Dingos Surrounded the Baby, but Something Older Watched From the Ridge

Frame Twenty-Five

Tom reviewed the images late that night. He scrubbed through them, frame by frame, adjusting brightness and zoom. It wasn’t the dingos that unsettled him—it was Elsie. In the final frame, her gaze locked onto something in the distance, past the animals and away from Clara’s approach.

He hadn’t noticed it earlier, distracted by the surrounding prints. He called Clara in. She studied the photo, then shook her head. “She was looking at something else.” Tom hesitated. “Or someone.” They returned to the crib. Elsie was asleep, one arm curled across her chest. But her eyes were twitching under the lids.

More in Trending