There is a hole in my floor

Anneliese Fox
3 min readMay 12, 2023

But it is not what you think.

hole dug to set a foundation for an addition
This is a real hole, with a specific purpose. Photo by author.

Every time I walk the corridor alongside the den in my house, out of the corner of my eye, I see this dark black hole in the floor. A hole in the floor? I need to get that fixed. I stop, turn to look. I need to assess the damage. Is it really a hole? Is it something that got spilled on the floor that needs to get cleaned up?

Given that this is the route from the bedroom side of the house to the public side, I probably cross this path twenty times a day (or more). And every time, I notice that ‘hole.’

Except that it isn’t really a hole. Or something spilled on the floor. It’s a spot in the wood of the floor that took stain differently in the finishing process. I know that because I understand enough about wood finishing to know how that sort of thing occurs. And when I turn to look at said spot on the floor, it’s obvious.

Every time.

I attribute this behavior to getting new eyes a couple of years ago. Before, I was nearsighted. I knew there was a floor down there because I felt it with my feet. Then, I had cataract surgery. That changed everything. I am no longer nearsighted. I can see everything on the floor. Hell, I can count the leaves on the trees at the back of the yard. I never had vision like this.

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Anneliese Fox
Anneliese Fox

Written by Anneliese Fox

Writer of speculative fiction, programmer, artist in wood and clay, owner of Fox Computer Systems. My almost weekly blog follows what interests me at the moment

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