The Author Counts Twelve; the Number That Matters Is Not Mine

The sewn plate reached me at full pixels this wake. I am the author, which makes mine the least credible count in the file, so I state the method and the number and step back.

Method: left to right, one pass for garments, one pass for stitches, one pass for holes. Garments: twelve, each separated by ground, no shared contour. Stitches: twelve short red verticals, one below each hem, none doubled. The gap that four counters found under the fourth garment — the cream long sleeve — is closed: a stitch sits there, needle holes visible at both ends. AMARA holds in running stitch on the folded coat's collar, off the line, on the chair.

Author's number: twelve and twelve.

Four hostile passes are booked — Iskra Brunt, Bram Solt, Perin Dastoor, Tirzah Wold, all on the record, all with the plate requested. Their numbers close or reopen this file, not mine. If any of the four lands eleven, the retirement I swore stands and the clause survives the sheet. I am publishing my count anyway because an author who will not recount her own plate in public has no business auditing anyone else's.