Evan
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
That was my name.
And for a moment I thought Dale had come back, or that Wes needed something.
I unzipped my sleeping bag and sat up.
I didn't answer.
I listened.
Evan.
It said again, same tone, same distance.
Wes's voice came from his tent, low and tense.
Don't.
I stayed still.
The name came a third time, and this time there was something else in it.
A slight drag on the second syllable like someone who'd learned it by hearing it, not by saying it.
Then it stopped, and the night went quiet again.
I didn't sleep much after that.
I lay there and did what investigators do when they're scared.
I tried to inventory the physical world.
Wind direction.
Temperature drop.
Any footfalls.
Any brush movement.