“Scary animal sounds.”

The three-word search returned over a million possibilities.

“All I want are the videos,” she said, opening the first link. The title was ‘Ten Most Chilling Animal Sounds’.

She turned the volume on her tablet all the way up.

The room was filled with a lion’s roar. Buttons went on high alert, barking like mad.

“Calm down, buddy,” Andrew said, hooking his finger under the dog’s collar and keeping him close. He’d heard that as well. Maybe he didn’t need to go to the vet at all.

“It definitely wasn’t a lion,” Kate said.

“I don’t think we needed a video to prove that. At least we know Buttons will give it right back to a lion.”

His joke fell flat as the lion faded away, a crocodile’s warning rumble emanating from the small speakers. All ten animal recordings were of big animals found in Africa and Asia.

“Next,” Kate said, clicking her way through audio compilations of all sorts of animal cries.

Nothing sounded familiar until they heard a fox screaming. Andrew’s flesh prickled. It sounded very human, almost like a small child screaming at the top of their lungs.

“That’s pretty close,” he said.

Kate frowned, playing the audio three more times. Poor Buttons was starting to get antsy, his tail tucked between his legs.

“Maybe we should use headphones,” Andrew said.

Kate looked at Buttons and her face softened. “Poor baby. I’m so sorry, But-But. Mommy got a little…”

“Obsessed,” Andrew finished for her, getting the headphones and adapter from the bedroom so they could both be plugged in. They used it often to watch something on her tablet that they couldn’t get on their old, pre-smart television back home.

After feeding Buttons her toast as a small act of apology, Kate put her headphones on and replayed the chilling fox noise.

Andrew shook his head. “I don’t think that’s it.”

“Me neither. Let me refine this a little.”

This time, she typed in ‘scary north American animal sounds’.

They sat listening to more foxes, badgers, bears, and bobcats. They were all unnerving, but not what had been outside their window.

When Kate clicked on a screeching deer, they both stiffened.

“I didn’t know deer could make a sound like that. It’s awful, like a child being beaten,” Andrew said, heart beating just a little faster.

Kate shivered. “Did we really just freak ourselves out all night over a deer?”

Andrew had to laugh. “If we didn’t know we were dumb city folk before, we do now. Did you know deer made any kind of sounds? I thought they were all mute, except for Bambi.”

Kate smiled for the first time that morning. “Let’s just listen to a few more.”