At first it was nothing.
A piece of trash.
Then it became a strange object.
Then it became something that might be alive.
Finally I discovered what it really was.
A leech.
The discovery itself lasted only a few minutes. The feeling stayed with me much longer.
Even now whenever I see something unusual on a damp bathroom floor I stop and look twice.
Sometimes the things we dismiss at first glance are not what they appear to be.
Once you have had the experience of watching a piece of trash move on its own you learn one very simple lesson.
Always take a second look.
The light in that bathroom had always been adequate for ordinary tasks. On that day the dimmer strip along the edge of the floor became the only thing I could think about. The object sat in that dimmer strip as if it had chosen the least visible place on purpose.
