was still half asleep when I entered the kitchen and something strange caught my eye. A small pale pink spot appeared right between the cabinet and the wall. Dry, odorless, and soundless. It hadn’t been there yesterday, I was sure of it. And yet it seemed as if it had always been there, as if it had nestled into the wall without my knowledge.
I came closer, slowly, hesitantly, with a slight squeeze of the heart, not quite understanding why. What could it be? Expanding foam that had leaked out of the pipe? Old sealant that was decomposing? Insect eggs ready to hatch? Or worse… the beginnings of a strange mold, almost organic in its form?
I tilted my head, trying to catch a scent, a reflection, a sign of life. Nothing. Just this still presence, as if frozen in time. And then a thought came to me, as clear as a warning: Don’t touch it. It was almost instinctive, like an internal warning. I stood there for a long time, staring. And the more I looked at it, the more it seemed to challenge me. It wasn’t just a spot. It was an anomaly. Something that shouldn’t be there.
And yet… when I found out what it was, I was completely stunned. Then I called my tenant. He came in, a little annoyed, took a napkin out of his pocket and wiped the stain as if it were dust. “It’s probably nothing, just some leftover foam,” he said before leaving without any questions. No check, no questions.
But I couldn’t stop there. I dug a little deeper. This stain could have been a sign of a more serious problem: a water leak, hidden moisture, degradation of materials… It may have been nothing, or it may have been a warning. And in an old house like mine, such details can say a lot.
Since then, I have learned to never ignore anything that seems “strange” in my home. Never touch it with bare hands, always take photos and above all trust your instinct. Even if the stain has disappeared, I continue to watch that corner of the wall. Because sometimes small, seemingly insignificant things start to speak first – you just have to listen to them.