Γνῶθι σεαυτόν

. σύνεση , καλλονή .

Σοφια and Hermosa, and the Keeper of the Numbers

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only for a moment do i consider that he , the Keeper of the Room Numbers , is the far-distant future reincarnation of herself , yourself ; who am i to say ? but let us for the moment ignore him , and regard the two of you in some slight specificity – naming them arbitrarily Σοφια and Hermosa , lying slightly apart upon the floor as though here before me in a somewhat humorous and convivial mutual languor , stoned , one presumes , upon native hormones : the estrogenes and also those others , formed via granulosa cells of corpus luteums
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and meanwhile , construed by any casual observers ( there are none ) to be me , your audience of one , here as though upon smooth-painted metal of that sort as might be found coating several folding chairs in the slight disarray as is their tendency , sitting not so far from you , the two of yourself – you and your friend so to speak , languidly among yourselves
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and yet the one of you seeming most like you , having now and again petitioned to be with him – the Keeper of the Room Numbers – with whom , that blonder and slightly softer version of yourself has begun to explain to me , may in indeterminate times be considered as having been with you , the alternative her , as his lover then , yet from his presence strangely rejected . my sense , however , is that this is , was , not quite the deliberate rejection , but rather more merely something of an accidental malaise upon his part , almost a forgetfulness , as though he has so many lovers to attend to , all clamoring for his attentions , that from time to time one drifts beyond the scope of his affection ; thus it would seem he meant nothing personal by it
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meanwhile the room itself , weaving through time in the manner of any remarkably mundane yet subtly fluidic clock , constructed of equal parts turntable and whirlpool , yet done in hardwoods and textures reminiscent of school auditoriums and one-story hotel lobbies – moving in motions so subtle as to be imperceptible except in far retrospection in that manner lending to our time-to-time discovery of ourselves , not necessarily of our own volition , as being now somewhat departed , she and me , from the presence of that alternative she more similar to you – she to whom so recently we both considered ourselves quite close – in her case an intimate among friends
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which is to say it has transpired that this collegial blonder version of her , you , yet slightly softer , finding herself cast among the likes of me , poor thing , for a short span thus so engaged , chatting with me rather than her intimate friend and alternative self , you . and her manner of chatting reminiscent of the habitual teacher , propounding the nature of things to her transient class of one , drifting meanwhile imperceptibly farther away , and this class cannot help but interpret her chattiness as something of a soliloquy regarding how her drift-away-friend and alternative self has once again fallen into , or remained within , this , the thrall of her traditional and ongoing infatuation , thus remaining essentially unavailable to any other than the object of her fascinations and obsessions – he as even up to now has seemingly ignored her petitionings , her desires to be somehow readmitted to the peripheries of his graces , or at least to such a room as lies amid the large number to which he has access
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strangely it is me – drifting farther from the more distant version of her , even now almost lost beyond the peripheries of her consciousness , adrift amid the imperceptible turning of things – happening to be felicitously juxtaposed amid more recent times so as to so briefly espy him , the Keeper of the Room Numbers , in his current yet seemingly eternal configuration , there at the far end of the humble yet elongated corridor , in the threshold of his current room – one of so many such rooms - the tight entryway vanishing at right angles toward the right . i don’t know whether you can see him also , there just behind your blonder self or , rather , friend ; so allow me to describe him via this , the briefest of visual impressions of his full profile as he deals with this minor matter regarding allowing you access to a properly numbered room of such desirings
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in light of our past conversations , you will perhaps be disappointed that i cannot address the issue of the muscularity of his buttocks , for his light robe has seemingly become somewhat undone , and therefore clings not so tightly unto his back , but certainly his appearance is that of a mature man , some might say a somewhat older aesthete , yet of enduring charisma and graceful movement – of a lithe and latently powerful dark aspect ; what might be taken to be Mediterranean skin darkly tanned or , in light of the shadows in that vestibule unto the partially-seen bedroom , poised amid some slight suggestion of interruption in his personal affairs , as skin not quite so dark as mahogany
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yet the glimpse is so fleeting that i cannot reasonably ascertain whether the multitude of large ringlets of his full head of dark , not in this light glossy , hair fall quite to his shoulders and somewhat beyond , or not . of a certitude his sleepy strength and aquiline nose – seeming somewhat thin at this considerable distance – lends him a sense of sleek sophistication , a man at ease with any number of women . and yet he demonstrates the benevolence of his character by taking a few moments to deal with the number so desired by her , the more brunette version of you two , via such a device appropriate to such a place and time and activity – giving thus access unto the room number of , and to now be opened unto , her desires – taking her in that sense onward unto her allotted fate and ( one hopes upon her behalf ) sublimely romantic and fulfilling fête
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thus does one empathize with her joy as she once again is so enabled – to check in ; check into precisely what remains of course most uncertain , but at a minimum it is known to have a number
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