Matt
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
Barking out there isn't constant, but when it happens, you hear it like a chain reaction.
It started around the time the sky fully went dark.
At first, it was one dog, then another, then a burst of frantic barking that felt different.
Less, there's a coyote, and more, there's something here.
I stepped out onto the porch without thinking because I'm stupid like that.
The air was cool and dry.
The porch light made a small circle.
Beyond that circle, the yard was black.
You could see silhouettes of fence posts and the outlines of distant scrub.
The dogs were barking toward the far side of the property, toward a stretch where the fence line ran and then disappeared into open land.
I didn't see anything.
No movement.
No eyes.
Just barking.
And the wind.
And my own heartbeat.
Behind me, Marin's uncle said, inside...
He wasn't raising his voice.
He didn't sound scared.
He sounded like someone telling a child not to touch a hot stove.