Sammy ambled without direction, his cold blue eyes—hardened by the solitary winter—scanning Chicago’s cracked pavements, gravel-strewn expanses, and overgrown fields. Summer’s lush grasses, once teeming with vermin, lay parched and sparse, their golden blades brittle underfoot.

I stumbled over uneven ground. Out of the dark woods came vicious growls. Looking out, I saw a mountain lion, a coyote, and a brown bear hemming me in. I heard a voice and saw a figure stretching out a radiant hand.

You leaned too hard into being obviously malicious in the last take. There needs to be seduction. The audience needs to feel unease. A sense deep down that something’s wrong beneath the surface but a hesitation to acknowledge it.

Paul’s eyes slowly opened and he saw the dull lights of his led alarm clock. 03:32. He’d set the alarm for four o’clock. It was too late to go back to sleep now. He washed up, put on his work clothes, and went out to get his boat ready.