“We have to leave, Daddy!” my daughter whispered in fear, her voice shaking before we even backed out of the driveway.

But at first…

I didn’t.

The Whisper

That afternoon I was sitting in my home office reviewing structural blueprints for a new development on the east side of town.

Lucy appeared quietly in the doorway.

“Dad?” she said softly.

I looked up from the plans.

“Yeah, peanut?”

Her face was pale.
Not scared the way children are when they imagine monsters or shadows—this was something else.

“We have to leave. Right now.”