Mason
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
And animals leave if you don't react.
The footsteps stopped.
Then from somewhere back in the trees, I heard a low whistle.
It wasn't a bird call.
It wasn't wind.
It was a simple human whistle.
Two notes, then nothing.
I stayed frozen until my lungs burned.
Eventually I forced myself to breathe again, slow and quiet.
I didn't sleep after that.
I waited for morning with my eyes open, listening for every small sound.
When the gray light finally came through the fabric, I unzipped the tent and looked out.
Mason was sitting on a log with his boots on, his pack half open, staring at the trees like he'd been doing it for an hour.
You hear it too?
He asked.
I didn't ask what it was.
I just nodded.
We didn't talk much as we packed.
We ate cold food because neither of us wanted to make a fire.
We took down the food hang and checked it.