I replayed the earlier part of the day in my mind. I tried to recall whether I had heard a sound from the drain. I tried to recall whether the floor had been wetter than usual. I tried to recall whether a guest had come in from outside with damp shoes. None of those memories supplied a clear origin.
The pipes under the sink looked the same as they always had. The metal fittings the curve of the trap and the small beads of moisture on the joints were familiar. After the discovery those same details felt like possible routes. A gap around a pipe a loose cover on a drain and a film of standing water each became a subject of new attention.
I kept a wide space between my feet and the creature while I used the phone to search. Dark elongated body. Soft appearance. Damp indoor setting. Image after image brought the same identification closer. The match with a leech settled the question of what I was seeing. The match left the question of how it arrived unanswered.
