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

The Exchange

Clara kindled the fire pit in the back that night. With a needle and thread, she sewed one of Elsie's old socks into a little purse. She put a lock of her hair, a tablespoon of powdered milk, and a smooth river stone they had found on a family stroll inside. This time, Tom didn't ask any questions.

Clara went back to the summit by herself before dawn and put the purse inside the stone ring. There was no breeze. There were no bird calls. She felt the air change behind her like a weight was lifted as she turned to depart. She didn't feel like she was being watched anymore.

Talking in Her Sleep

Clara heard Elsie say something on the baby monitor two nights after the offering. She sat up in bed, trying to hear, and then she crept down the hall. Elsie was lying on her side and murmuring words that Clara didn't know. Like a song, it has a rhythm. She recorded it on her phone and then played it back. The words didn't sound like any local dialect. Clara forwarded the clip to Miriam the next morning. She called back in less than an hour. She shook her voice when she said that language hadn't been spoken out loud in generations. Then she stopped and asked Clara how her kid knew that, since she had only started putting together phrases that made sense.