I’ve been watching what humans do when nothing is wrong.

They are together. Sitting or standing. No one is leaving. No one is protecting anything.

Then one of them makes a sound. It comes out fast and broken apart. Not like speaking. Not like calling.

The others hear it and make the sound too. Soon the whole group is doing it.

Their bodies fold forward. Their shoulders lift. Sometimes one of them has to hold onto something nearby. But no one moves away. Nothing dangerous has entered the space. Nothing needs to be chased.

Still the sound continues.

I have seen this happen after very small changes. A word said differently. A movement slightly wrong. Something dropped without breaking.

The sound starts in one human and spreads through the others very quickly. Even the humans who were quiet a moment before begin making it too. Sometimes the sound stops and begins again before anyone says another word.

I think the sound is how humans tell each other that the space is still safe. They make the sound together so everyone receives the message at the same time. That is why they stay close while it is happening.

June (quietly): “What if only one of them makes the sound?”

Walter: “The others usually join in after a moment.”