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“What did I come in here for? What did I want to find?” My hands were empty. “Perhaps it’s upstairs then?”
After hearing the ghostly couple find their treasure, the narrator goes looking for them. The narrator wants to discover the ghosts’ treasure, too. However, when the narrator enters the empty room, they forget why they did so. The narrator is left empty-handed. Yet without knowing what they seek, the narrator resumes their search. In that search, the narrator mirrors the ghostly couple. Whenever the ghosts discover and find their treasure, they seem to forget and begin the search anew, a dynamic in which love is forgotten and then again restored and reified.
“Here we slept,” she says. And he adds, “Kisses without number.” “Waking in the morning—” “Silver between the trees—” “Upstairs—” “In the garden—” “When summer came—” “In winter snowtime—”
These words directly follow the narrator’s statement that “the ghostly couple seek their joy,” a joy found in their shared memories. The quote suggests that these memories are entwined with specific places—where they slept, between the trees, upstairs, in the garden. Those memories are also associated with time and the passing of seasons. Summer and winter may share symbolic meanings: summer can reflect memories of youth, passion, or good times, while winter can reflect memories of old age, contentment, or difficult times. In all places and seasons, the ghosts’ memories reflect their love for each other.
