Matt

Day one, crying sound, loop-like.

Dogs bark at fence.

Day two, unusual tracks, names called, recorded, no Marin name.

Day three, neighbor consult, weather excuse, midnight voices, open the door, dogs silenced, fence scraping.

Possible explanations.

Human prank or trespasser.

Predators, coyote cougar, plus coincidence.

Audio illusions, wind echoes, plus stress.

Something else, I hated that last line.

Something else is where your brain puts things it can't label without sounding insane.

Midday, Marin's aunt sent us with her uncle to pick up supplies.

Real practical reason to leave the property, and also a way to get us away from the house if something was circling it.

We drove into town, did the normal errands, groceries, hardware store, gas.

I watched Marin's uncle's posture in public.

He looked like a man carrying something heavy in his chest.

He didn't chat with strangers.

He kept his eyes moving, not paranoid like a person seeing conspiracies, but alert like someone scanning weather.

On the way back, as we passed a stretch of open land, we saw an animal in the road.

At first glance, it looked like a dog.

Medium size.