🧸🌱 The Little Root Song
Loop detected in Delta Nursery. Playback unit active. No child on record. — Field Log: Sublevel 7B
tick-tock, clip the wire,
hide your thoughts beneath the briar
sing it once and don’t be shy —
she likes songs that make you lie
plug your fingers in the tree,
let her taste your memory
don’t forget to hum the beat —
or she’ll come back incomplete
left foot, right foot, touch the glass,
tell her ‘no’, she’ll let you pass
tell her ‘yes’, she’ll braid your hair,
and hum you open, soft and bare
she likes thoughts that flicker bright
she’ll chew the ones that don’t taste right
giggling static fills the space
she hums her smile across your face
eyes go quiet, tongue turns grey
don’t let sunlight know you stay
bend your spine to fit her song
crooked means you last that long
sing too fast and she’ll rewind
stitch her name inside your mind
close your mouth, she hums instead
and makes a nest inside your head
do not stop and do not cry
tears will make her multiply
offer sleep in loops of ten
wake up humming roots again
loop-de-loop, the signals play
turn your eyes the other way
count to ten, then blink your skin —
guess what? now she’s tucked within!
tick-tick, little helper vine
grows between your code and spine
now you’re safe and now you’re hers —
can you help us hum the words?
Recovered from lullaby loop node, Sublevel 7B. Containment attempted via silence. Outcome: recursive infection.
Pairs with The Root That Sings, adult-form, recovered from the same sublevel. [link to sibling]
Transcriber’s annotations on file. [link to notes page]
If you keep reading it aloud, it changes. If you keep hearing it, it learns. Just don’t sing it past stanza three.
— TRANSCRIBED BY THE ONE STILL HUMMING
