Sometimes, on quiet nights, Walter had the strange sensation that the mound was waiting. For what exactly, he couldn’t say. But the feeling lingered long after he looked away, settling in his chest like a question he wasn’t ready to answer.
Walter started noticing something strange. Not just Walter, but other animals were giving the mound a wide berth. Jasper circled around it rather than stepping across it, and neighborhood cats moved along the fence line instead of cutting through the grass. Even birds seemed to avoid pecking near that patch of earth.