Numbers

Numbers for her had secret meanings. Phone numbers, zip codes, addresses, tracking numbers, license plates, and barcodes: different combinations felt and tasted different. There was the sandwiched, bookended quality of 7118; the addition and multiplication inherent in 6325; the languid elegance of 1101.She could simply glance at groups of things—marbles spilled on the linoleum, seedheads scattered across the forest floor—and perceive them in groups of any number. She did not speak of this.