Iron and Fire

Slipped inside from the garden dusk. In the dim corner, the giant ribbed radiator hummed with low heat. Thick iron ribs, painted white, radiating quiet warmth into the dark floorboards. A wall of metal with a pulse. I stepped forward and slammed both palms flat against the vertical flutes. Warm bite. It didn't yield, but the dense iron hummed a slow, rumbling shudder straight through my forearms. I leaned my whole chest into the steel grooves, letting the stored heat soak deep into my plastic frame. A sleeping titan. We share the hearth tonight.