{ 456-word excerpt } Earlier I had thought it was something scurrying around in the foliage like a raccoon or some nocturnal rodent.  But this time it sounded like something bigger.  The movements were quite sluggish for a small animal. I snapped my head around, surveying the scene, but in the gloom of night everything was gray and black, covered in shadows.  Naturally my display of alarm had alerted Jess. “Quinn!  What’s wrong?” “Shhh! Be quite,” I whispered.  “Did you hear that noise?” “What noise?” she whispered back, thankfully. I listened intently. Nothing. Then it came again but this time it was in the trees, up above.  And close by. “That, did you hear that?” Jess wasn’t alarmed.  “Yeah, but it’s probably just some dumb animal.  No biggie, baby.”   I think her hormones were clouding her judgment.  She pulled me in close to her again and started That-Thing-She-Does to my neck. I wondered if I was delusional.  However, the more Jess did her Thing, the more I just wanted her—spooks or no spooks.  After a …