Season 1/Episode 8: Pack Animals

by Bilal Dardai

Content advisories for this episode can be found below.

This episode features: Clarisa Cherie Rios as Lily, Marsha Harman as Dot, Kathleen Hoil as Abbie, Joshua K Harris as Rudy, Mark Soloff as &4u3hf39*&, Ele Matelan as Jjfhfe7^%%^, Sebastian H. Orr as &77YDhJD&, and Michael Turrentine as Wes.

Written by Bilal Dardai, sound design by Sarah D. Espinoza, directed by Jeffrey Nils Gardner, music composed by Stephen Poon, recording engineer Mel Ruder, Unwell lead sound designer Ryan Schile, Executives Producers Eleanor Hyde and Jeffrey Gardner, by HartLife NFP.

Content advisories:

-Monstrous noises
-Wolf growls
-Peril
-Jump scares
-Bird attacks
-Animal Attacks
-Swearing

SCENE 1

SOUNDS OF A FOREST NEAR SUNSET:

BIRDS, CRICKETS, A BRANCH BEING

BENT BY WIND OR SQUIRRELS.

A RUSTLE ON THE GROUND. A

TWIG SNAPS, A LEAF CRUMPLES.

A STRANGE SOUND- A WOLF, OR A HUMAN PRETENDING TO BE ONE?

THEN A HUGE, BESTIAL SOUND.

A SINGLE WOLF HOWLS, FOR A BIT

LONGER THAN NORMAL, AND THEN FADES

OUT. THE SOUNDS OF THE FOREST

RETURN, BUT MORE TENTATIVELY THAN

BEFORE. THERE ARE NO MORE

FOOTSTEPS.

SCENE 2

A BOGGLE TRAY IS SHAKEN AND PLACED

ON A TABLE.

LILY: And...go.

PENCILS SCRATCHING FURIOUSLY AT PAPER.

DOT: (MUTTERING) Trap...part...rapt...poet.

Strap. Sport.

LILY: Don’t do that.

DOT: Am I distracting you?

LILY: You score points for having different words.

DOT: I’ve played the game before.

LILY: So if you say the words out loud, Mom--

DOT: --I know the rules, Lily.

PENCILS SCRATCHING FURIOUSLY AT PAPER.

DOT: Tarp.

LILY: Dammit!

PENCILS SCRATCHING FURIOUSLY AT

PAPER. FOOTSTEPS ON THE FLOOR.

ABBIE: I need to show you two something.

LILY: Hold on.

DOT: You’ll distract her. Beat. Star. Beast.

LILY: Stop. Doing. That.

DOT: She doesn’t like it when I beat her at Boggle.

LILY: I don’t like when you cheat at Boggle.

DOT: This isn’t cheating. Top. Trip. This is a tactic.

LILY: This is not a tactical game, Mom, this is,

it’s just, it’s words! You shake the dice

and you make words!

DOT: You play your way, I’ll play mine. Reed.

Reef.

LILY: Argh!

PENCILS SCRATCHING FURIOUSLY AT PAPER.

ABBIE: Okay. So I have what I believe is a pretty

significant revelation about the civic

infrastructure of Mt. Absalom? But Boggle.

Boggle is also important. Sure. You two

Boggle.

PENCILS SCRATCHING FURIOUSLY AT

PAPER.

DOT: Teapot. And that’s time.

A SHEET OF PAPER VIOLENTLY

GRABBED. A SERIES OF QUICK PENCIL

SCRATCHES.

LILY: Three to two.

DOT: Boom!

LILY: This is the lowest-scoring round of Boggle

ever in the entire history of Boggle.

DOT: As I said, Lilybelle: Tactic. Like that

story about the two hunters being chased by

the bear.

LILY: What does that even mean.

DOT: “I don’t have to outrun the bear. I just

have to outrun you.”

LILY: That doesn’t--

ABBIE: --SO LISTEN, you two. I found something.

A HEAVY LEATHER-BOUND BOOK IS

PLACED ON THE TABLE WITH A THUMP.

LILY: Did you find that in the attic?

ABBIE: This? This is near mint condition. Look at

the leatherwork. When you open it up do you

know what it sounds like?

A SATISFYING CRACK.

ABBIE: Glorious.

LILY: So...not in the attic.

ABBIE: This was at the library. (WHISPERS) The

restricted section.

DOT: That’s real?

ABBIE: Yes, and it’s a long separate story I’m not

going to tell you right now. Look at this.

LARGE, HEAVY PAGES TURNING.

LILY: What are we looking at?

ABBIE: These are storm sewer plans, dating back to

a few decades after the town’s founding.

Look at this. You can chart the growth of

the town itself just by looking at the way

the systems expand.

LILY: You called this a revelation.

ABBIE: I did, and here’s why: It’s a mess.

DOT: Wouldn’t it be? It’s a sewer system.

ABBIE: I mean that it’s nonsensical. It looks like

it was designed without either the SCS TR-55

or Rational Method equations.

LILY: The what?

ABBIE: (SIGHS) If you want the crash course on

urban hydrology we can do that later. I’m

telling you the system might as well have

been designed by looking at a bowl of

spaghetti. The drainage shouldn’t work with

these kinds of tables and watersheds. Mount

Absalom ought to turn into Lake Absalom

after a few days of rain.

DOT: Why is this important, Abbie?

ABBIE: Excuse me?

DOT: First of all, could just be that these maps

are wrong, and whoever drew them up in the

first place had no business doing so.

ABBIE: These aren’t maps. These are plans.

DOT: Then maybe the contractors understood these

were nonsense and ignored the plans.

ABBIE: That doesn’t...are you even listening to me?

Years, decades, over a century of

infrastructure planning that flies in the

face of all reason.

DOT: I hear you just fine. You’re forgetting the

important thing here.

ABBIE: What’s that?

DOT: The town. Didn’t. Go anywhere. (BEAT) You

march in here with your eurekas and ahas

about how you can’t understand the drains

but I don’t see how it matters. Even if

that’s exactly what our storm sewers look

like, it’s crystal clear to me that they’ve

worked just fine for however long we’ve had

them.

ABBIE: Well, I...I still think somebody should go

take a look at them.

DOT: Then you have a good time splashing around

In there.

BOGGLE TRAY BEING PICKED BACK UP.

DOT: I’m going to get back to destroying my

daughter at...

SIXTEEN DICE SPILLING ACROSS THE

TABLE AND FLOOR.

LILY: Mom!

DOT: Sh! (BEAT) Did you hear that?

LILY: Hear what?

DOT: Just now. In the distance. A wolf.

LILY: A wolf?

DOT: Yes a wolf, of course a wolf, you didn’t

hear it howling just now?

LILY: No. (BEAT) Maybe it was the wind?

DOT: Oh no. Oh no you don’t. Whether I heard

something or not, you will keep that tone

out of your throat, understood?

LILY: I didn’t mean--

DOT: --I’ve been listening to the wind in Mt.

Absalom longer than you’ve been alive. You

think I can’t tell the difference between a

summer breeze and a howling wolf?

LILY: When’s the last time you heard a wolf?

DOT: ...Never.

LILY: Then...

A HAND SLAMMING AGAINST THE TABLE.

DICE RATTLE ACROSS THE TABLETOP

AND ONTO THE FLOOR.

DOT: Don’t you condescend--!

RUDY: I’m sorry, am I wrong or is there commotion

in here?

ABBIE: Doc. No, there’s commotion all right.

RUDY: I knew it. I have what you might call a

sixth sense for that sort of thing.

ABBIE: Hearing is one of the basic five.

RUDY: Maybe for you all.

LILY: Mom says there was a noise outside.

DOT: Don’t “Mom says” me. I heard what I heard.

RUDY: What kind of noise?

DOT: Howling.

RUDY: Howling. I need more than that. Howling like

an ambulance siren or howling like a five

year-old with a skinned knee?

ABBIE: Are you kidding me? Howling. Wolf. Canis

lupus.

RUDY: Oh, that’s unlikely.

ABBIE: Is it.

RUDY: There are no wolves in this area of Ohio.

ABBIE: So you’re an astrophysicist and a wildlife

expert?

RUDY: I didn’t claim that.

ABBIE: Is that a typical double major at...whatever

university you said you were from?

RUDY: Double majors aren’t allowed at...I’m not an

expert on wildlife. Just on wolves. And how

they’re not in Ohio.

ABBIE: That’s curiously specific.

RUDY: I didn’t want to be anywhere near wolves.

ABBIE: Hold up. This is a thing? You have a wolf

phobia?

RUDY: I don’t know if it qualifies as--

ABBIE: --you chose Mt. Absalom as a research site

based specifically on the lack of wolves.

RUDY: There were other factors.

ABBIE: That sounds like a phobia.

RUDY: And did you double-major in psychology as

well as history?

ABBIE: Minor, as a matter of fact.

RUDY: Oh.

ABBIE: Oh.

RUDY: All I am saying is that I know there is no

native wolf population in Ohio because I

checked it, because I have had a recurring

nightmare since the age of ten in which I am

torn apart by a pack of wolves,and if that’s

by definition a phobia then fine, it’s a

phobia, but I’m sorry Dorothy. You couldn’t

have heard a wolf. It’s not at all possible.

DISTANT SOUND OF A HOWLING WOLF.

RUDY: Oh. (BEAT) Oh that’s a wolf.

LILY: Okay. Okay, so we all heard it?

DOT: Hm? Heard what? You mean the wind just now?

LILY: Okay, Mom, I apologize.

RUDY: Perhaps it’s lost. Took an odd turn at

the border of Michigan or West Virginia.

ABBIE: Maybe it smelled something tasty. Maybe

it smelled you, Doc.

LILY: Back off, Abbie.

DISTANT SOUND OF A HOWLING WOLF.

LILY: First things first. Nobody goes outside?

DOT: Agreed.

ABBIE: Agreed.

RUDY: Um.

ABBIE: What?

RUDY: Wes...

DOT: No.

RUDY: He said he needed to get something from

home.

ABBIE: He left?

RUDY: I was surprised. I thought he lived here.

DOT: No, he...I see how you’d assume that,

but...he does go home, every now and again,

sees his parents.

LILY: He has parents?

DOT: Who doesn’t have parents?

LILY: You know what I--he’s never mentioned--

ABBIE: --which way, Dot?

DOT: What?

ABBIE: Where does he live?

DOT: I don’t...I don’t know. (BEAT) I don’t think

I know.

ABBIE: Direction. Which direction?

DOT: Why don’t I recall that? What’s wrong with

me?

LILY: I’ve seen him, he heads--

DOT: --shut up, I know this. (BEAT) He goes out

the front. He turns back to me and waves.

LILY: Mom.

DOT: Let me think, Lily! Out the front, turns

and waves. Turns around. Heads. Left. West.

ABBIE: Towards the woods.

DOT: Yes. Yes, he cuts through the woods.

DISTANT SOUND OF A HOWLING WOLF.

A MAD SCRAMBLING SOUND. QUICK

STEPS ACROSS THE FLOOR, DRAWERS

BEING OPENED.

ABBIE: Flashlight. Where do you--?

LILY: --Abbie, wait--

DOT: --under the sink in the kitchen--

ABBIE: --got it. Are the batteries--?

DOT: --should be.

FLASHLIGHT CLICKS ON AND OFF.

LILY: Hold on!

ABBIE: Are you coming?

LILY: What?

ABBIE: Are you coming with, Lily?

LILY: I don’t know if I, that is...

ABBIE: Doc?

RUDY: Um.

ABBIE: No. Right. Wolves. Phobia.

LILY: We can’t just--

ABBIE: --we can’t just sit here. Are you coming or

not?

LILY: We should call the--

ABBIE: --fine. Whoever. Do that.

FRONT DOOR OPENING.

ABBIE: Stay inside. If Wes and I come back and

you’ve all been eaten by wolves I’m going to

be so fucking pissed off.

FRONT DOOR CLOSING. FOOTSTEPS DOWN

THE FRONT STAIRS, THEN INTO THE

GRASS. A BRISK WALK, THEN FASTER.

ABBIE’S BREATHING QUICKENS. THE

SOUND OF DRY TWIGS SNAPPING

BENEATH THEIR FEET.

SCENE THREE

DISTANT SOUND OF A HOWLING WOLF.

THEN TWO WOLVES. ABBIE’S PACE

QUICKENS.

ABBIE: (CALLING OUT) Wes! Wes, it’s Abbie! Wes!

SLIGHTLY CLOSER SOUND OF A HOWLING

WOLF.

ABBIE: Wes!

WES: (FROM A SHORT DISTANCE) Abbie?

ABBIE: Where are you?

WES: Over...where are you?

ABBIE: Stay where you are. Right where you are.

See my flashlight?

WES: No.

ABBIE: Keep talking.

WES: Why are you following me?

ABBIE: We thought you were in trouble.

WES: Why?

ABBIE: Why? What do you mean, why?

WES: (A LITTLE CLOSER) I see you.

ABBIE: Where are--

WES: --a bit to the west of you.

ABBIE: Okay. (BEAT) Hey.

WES: Hey...

ABBIE: So listen, we need to--

WES: --you thought I was in trouble? I told Rudy,

I’m just going home for a minute.

ABBIE: Sure, but the wolves.

WES: What wolves?

ABBIE: They’ve been howling for the last few

minutes...and you have had your headphones

on, haven’t you.

WES: Sure. I almost didn’t hear you at all.

ABBIE: For fuck’s sake.

WES: Lily let me borrow this book she was

listening to--

ABBIE: --not, not, not right now. Wolves. Remember?

WES: Right. You said something about wolves.

SOUND OF TWO HOWLING WOLVES, VERY

CLOSE.

WES: I’ve never heard that around here before.

ABBIE: You and the doc can argue about natural

habitats when we get you back to the

house. So let’s...

NEARBY FOOTFALLS CRUNCHING THROUGH

DRIED LEAVES AND TWIGS. A LOW

SNARL.

WES: (WHISPERING) Abbie.

ABBIE: (WHISPERING) Sh.

WES: Turn off the--

ABBIE: --yeah.

FLASHLIGHT CLICKS OFF. MORE

FOOTFALLS. MORE SNARLS. A BARK AND

A SNAP.

WES: Can you see how many there...?

ABBIE: No.

WES: It sounds like--

ABBIE: --Wes, shut up.

MORE FOOTFALLS. MORE SNARLS. A

DISTANT SOUND OF A SINGLE WOLF

HOWLING, FOLLOWED BY THE VERY,

VERY CLOSE SOUND OF A TWO OTHER

WOLVES HOWLING BACK. THE ECHOES

MAKE THE PACK SOUND LARGER.

SCENE FOUR

THE HOWLING TRANSITIONS BACK TO

THE HOUSE, WHERE IT IS HEARD FROM

A DISTANCE. IT IS STILL

UNSETTLING.

RUDY: Do you hear--?

LILY: Uh-huh. (BEAT) I should have gone with. “We

should call someone.” Who was I going to

call? Like Mt. Absalom has forest rangers.

DOT: It wasn’t a bad--

LILY: --no, listen Mom. This is typical me. A

little pressure and I lock up. Make excuses,

overthink. Watch while other people do

things I should be doing.

DOT: You came here to help me.

LILY: I slept on it. You’re my mom and you needed

help and I slept on it.

DOT: You’re being too hard on yourself.

LILY: I’m not nearly. (BEAT) You would have gone.

If not for your leg? You’d have been right

out the door with Abbie.

DOT: Maybe.

LILY: Don’t act otherwise. I could tell. It was

all

over your face. Typical you, Mom. (BEAT) I

probably should have paid closer attention.

RUDY: Hey, excuse me. Sorry to interrupt, but,

what’s this?

LILY: What’s what?

RUDY: The book.

LILY: Oh that...Abbie said it’s a map of the

town’s

storm drains? Something like that?

PAGES FLIPPING.

RUDY: Interesting. So this would be the

observatory...

LILY: I’m going.

DOT: No you’re not.

LILY: Mom.

DOT: This is not a moment you use to prove

yourself. That’s not how it works.

SEVERAL HOWLS IN THE DISTANCE.

LILY: So we do nothing.

DOT: We do what Abbie told us to do. We wait.

SCENE FIVE

HOWLS TRANSITION BACK TO THE

FOREST. A CACOPHONY OF SNARLS,

SNAPS, AND FOOTFALLS.

WES: Something’s wrong.

ABBIE: Of course something’s wrong. We’re

surrounded by wolves.

WES: Why aren’t they--?

ABBIE: --what, do you want them to?

WES: They’re not even moving in. What are they

waiting for?

ABBIE: They might not be sure if we’re dangerous.

None of them wants to be the first to find

out. Follow my lead. Step slowly. Keep your

eyes open.

CAUTIOUS FOOTSTEPS ACROSS THE

GROUND. SNARLS, SNAPS, AND

FOOTFALLS FOLLOWING.

WES: Should we run?

ABBIE: If we run they’ll know.

WES: If we don’t run they’ll catch us.

ABBIE: You think they won’t catch us anyway? (BEAT)

Stay in front of me.

WES: What?

ABBIE: If they’re too fast I can buy you time.

WES: Abbie!

ABBIE: Don’t argue. Count of three. One. Two. THR--

A MASSIVE WOLF NOISE. THEN SILENCE

ABBIE: What. Has just happened.

A CROW JOINS THE SOUND, THEN

ANOTHER CROW. THEN AN ENTIRELY

DIFFERENT SONG BIRD. A HAWK’S

SCREAM, A DUCK’S CALL. THE FOREST

SOUNDS LIKE A CHAOTIC AVIARY.

WES: Is that a--?

ABBIE: --that doesn’t make sense.

A FLAP OF SEVERAL WINGS, QUICKLY,

AT ONCE.

ABBIE: GET DOWN!

THE SOUND OF HUNDREDS OF WINGS

FLAPPING FURIOUSLY OVER ABBIE AND

WES, A DIN OF WHISTLES AND

SCREECHING. AFTER SEVERAL SECONDS,

THEY HAVE VANISHED ABOVE THE

TREELINE INTO THE DISTANCE. THE

FOREST RETURNS TO TRANQUILITY AND

CRICKETS.

ABBIE: Wes, are you okay?

WES: I’m good.

ABBIE: You saw...?

WES: I saw. If we’d stood up they’d have made,

made, like, dartboards out of us.

ABBIE: Where are the wolves?

WES: I don’t hear them.

ABBIE: That doesn’t make sense! There were, there

was a pack of them!

WES: We didn’t see them.

ABBIE: We heard them! They were all around us,

everywhere. A flock of birds isn’t going to

scare off a pack of wolves!

WES: How do you know that?

ABBIE: What do you mean how do I know that? Wolves

are wolves! Birds are birds!

WES: But you saw how many there were?

ABBIE: Still!

WES: Then maybe there weren’t any wolves in the

first place?

ABBIE: What?

WES: Maybe one of those birds can imitate wolves.

ABBIE: That’s idiotic.

WES: Or maybe they’re birds that can turn into

wolves.

ABBIE: Never mind. That’s idiotic.

WES: Werebirds. No, you wouldn’t call them that.

ABBIE: Insanity. One hundred ten percent insanity.

WES: On the plus side: We weren’t eaten by

wolves?

ABBIE: OF COURSE WE WEREN’T EATEN BY WOLVES BECAUSE

APPARENTLY THERE WEREN’T ANY WOLVES!

WES: And that’s good, isn’t it?

ABBIE: The hell is this. The hell just happened.

The hell with this. Are you fine?

WES: Yeah.

ABBIE: Good. So am I. I’m going back to the house.

You still going home?

WES: No. No, that’s okay. I’ll go back with you.

ABBIE: Then...let’s get moving before it starts

turning into monkeys and fiddler crabs or

whatever out here.

WES AND ABBIE’S FOOTSTEPS WALKING

THROUGH THE FOREST. TRANSITION

BACK TO THE HOUSE.

SCENE SIX

RUDY: Wow.

LILY: What wow?

RUDY: I don’t know what they were but I swear I

just saw about a thousand birds fly out of

the forest.

DOT: Is that good or bad?

RUDY: What do you mean?

DOT: All the howling stopped and then you saw a

bunch of birds fly away. Does that feel like

a good thing as far as Wes and Abbie are

concerned or something else?

RUDY: How would I know that?

DOT: I don’t know, Rudy, I just thought somebody

might know something about anything.

LILY: They’re fine. They have to be fine.

DOT: And if they’re not? Are you ready for that?

Hm? What if they’re dying? What if they’re

dead?

LILY: Mom!

DOT: You need to hear this, Lilybelle. You need

to hear it and I need to say it out loud. We

might have to go out into the woods tomorrow

morning and find what’s left of their

bodies. That’s a fact.

LILY: I don’t want to talk about this.

DOT: Sure you don’t. It’s the problem with this

place. People walking around never saying

anything out loud.

LILY: The...boarding house?

DOT: Huh? No. Here. Mount Absalom. Secrets on

top of secrets, and for what. Like the only

reason for the town keeping its mysteries is

that it thinks it ought to have mysteries,

which is utter horseshit. Ghosts in the

graveyard, wolves in the woods.

LILY: Mom, I don’t understand what you mean.

DOT: Never mind. I’m just talking. I’m just

worried. You said you saw birds? That’s a

thing, isn’t it. Some kind of symbol. Some

kind of omen.

RUDY: Yes. If you believe in such things. Which I

do.

AS DOT SPEAKS, WE HEAR A SOUND IN

FLASHBACK: SEVERAL DIFFERENT KINDS

OF BIRDS AT FIRST, THEN A SINGLE

SHOTGUN BLAST, THEN SEVERAL

BLASTS, THEN MANY FEWER BIRDS,

THEN SILENCE AS HER STORY

CONCLUDES.

DOT: I remember there used to be all sorts of

birds in Mount Absalom. So many. Too many.

Squawking and singing all hours of the day.

We chased them all off when I was just a

little girl. The mayor, or somebody, they

said the birds had become a nuisance and

they sent out invitations to every corner of

Ohio. Called all the hunters in, told them

no limits. If it flies you can shoot it. All

that autumn you saw men walking around town

in their caps and jackets with their

shotguns across their backs. The boarding

house was full up for two months. Sunrise to

sunset, every few minutes, shotguns going

off. Hundreds of wings. You could watch them

scatter in the air, the birds, and some of

them would take the hint and fly off, but

others would try to land again, and it would

start all over, the flock getting smaller

and smaller. Some birds are dumb as rocks.

All of autumn like that. What was left of

the birds started heading south and the

hunters all left with their freezers full of

Christmas dinner. When spring came, it was

quieter. You could just tell. The message

had been received. Passed along. “Not

welcome.”

A KNOCK AT THE DOOR.

ABBIE: (FROM OUTSIDE) Hey. Hey let us back in. It’s

Abbie and Wes.

DOT: Oh thank heavens.

FOOTSTEPS ACROSS THE FLOOR. THE

FRONT DOOR OPENS.

ABBIE: There’s a lightbulb out on the back porch.

Thought you should know.

LILY: Are you both okay?

ABBIE: Sure. Exhausted. Little confused. I could

use

a shower.

RUDY: Were there--?

ABBIE: --I don’t want to talk about it.

RUDY: I just need to know if--

ABBIE: --not talking about it.

WES: We didn’t run into any wolves.

ABBIE: Yeah. That about covers it. Excuse me.

ABBIE’S FOOTSTEPS UP THE STAIRS.

LILY: Wes? What happened out there?

WES: I’m not a hundred percent sure? Like, maybe

there were wolves, but maybe there weren’t?

RUDY: You couldn’t tell if they were wolves?

WES: No, I mean that we aren’t sure if there were

wolves. It’s weird. That’s all. I’m trying

to figure it out. I’m going to go lay down

for a minute. Lily, this book of yours is

killer.

DOT: Wes?

WES: Yeah?

DOT: What were you going back to your house for?

WES: Oh. Hm. (BEAT) I don’t remember. Must not

have been important.

DOT: If you think of it and need to go back for

it, you let me know.

WES: Okay.

DOT: Lily can drive you.

WES: Okay. (BEAT) I’m gonna--

DOT: --sure.

WES: This is a great book, Lily. I’m really

enjoying it.

WES’S FOOTSTEPS UP THE STAIRS.

RUDY: Well. Another quiet evening at home. Exactly

what your brochure promised.

DOT: We don’t have a brochure.

RUDY: No? You should. This is the most peculiar

place I’ve ever stayed on assignment.

Including that weird little farmhouse

outside Budapest. (BEAT) Do you think Abbie

would mind if I borrowed their book? I’m

sure they won’t mind. If Abbie asks, tell

them I needed to see something.

RUDY WALKS AWAY, HUMMING TO

THEMSELVES.

LILY: I still don’t understand what happened

tonight.

DOT: Neither do I. Maybe we’re not supposed to.

LILY: ...meaning?

DOT: Hm?

LILY: What do you mean, we’re not supposed to?

DOT: Listen, tomorrow, maybe you and I should go

get those lights that turn on when

something’s close to the house.

LILY: Motion sensors.

DOT: That’s it. In case. Couldn’t hurt.

LILY: You’re worried.

DOT: I’m really not. But we have guests, I’m sure

they’d feel more secure the next time we

hear wolves.

LILY: You think there’s going to be a next time?

DOT: Maybe some cyclone fence.

LILY: Mom, are you not telling me something?

DOT: Always, Lilybelle.

LILY: Don’t do that. I hate when you do that. You

don’t have to hide things from me.

DOT: Oh, honey. If that were true nobody would

ever need parents. Soon, though. (BEAT.)

Don’t let me forget.

All right? Motion, um, sensor

lights and cyclone fence. Just in case.

THE THEME SONG COMES IN- STOMPING FEET, RHYTHMIC GUITAR, AND PRONOUNCED BANJO.

CREDITS:       This episode features: Shariba Rivers as Lily, Marsha Harman as Dot, Kathleen Hoil as Abbie, Joshua K Harris as Rudy, Mark Soloff as &4u3hf39*&, Ele Matelan as Jjfhfe7^%%^, Sebastian H. Orr as &77YDhJD&, and Michael Turrentine as Wes.

MUSIC BREAK- A HAUNTING SUNG NOTE    

 Written by Bilal Dardai, sound design by Sarah D. Espinoza, directed by Jeffrey Nils Gardner, music composed by Stephen Poon, recording engineer Mel Ruder, Unwell lead sound designer Ryan Schile, Executives Producers Eleanor Hyde and Jeffrey Gardner, by HartLife NFP.

THE STRANGE BASS NOTE RETURNS

Though wolves are no longer common in Ohio, many predatory canines have called this area home including the prehistoric dire wolf and appropriately named bone-crunching dogs.