Hags, Gremlins, and Moon Calves

This creature is commonly known as the Gwillion, or Beggar Hag. She takes the appearance of a wretchedly haggard old woman with a bent or crooked form. She has a habit of luring her prey close enough to strangle or drown them. Whether or not she eats her prey is still unclear, having never witnessed her feeding. Her modern, urban form can be seen pushing old covered shopping carts around or carting large bags around the city.

This is an ancient legendary creature. Very little is known about it, and there have been hardly any sightings. It's called a Mooncalf, and it tends to vary in appearance in different parts of the world over time. I spotted this one luckily on a walk home late at night in the lot of an abandoned building in the city. Mooncalves only appear on the full moon, and give a mournful, ghostly cry. They look like malformed calves with the feet of a large bird of prey. They lead solitary lives, and no one knows what they eat, or if they're even harmful. I didn't want to take my chances, so I didn't get too close. 

Gremlins. There tends to be much dispute about these pesky creatures. They're often confused with goblins, as they can vary in form and tend to look similar. There are actually several distinct differences between goblins and gremlins. Gremlins are much smaller - about half the size of goblins, which means they're roughly six inches tall. Gremlins are not pack animals like goblins, and live in or near human dwellings. Goblins, on the other hand live deep in wooded areas in large packs and tend to steer very clear of humans. Gremlins tend to prefer large basements, chimneys, and the interiors of walls. They'll help themselves to anything they like that the human inhabitants leave laying around, or food that they leave out. I've noticed much more gremlin activity in city dwellings that are considerably messier or have more inhabitants. 

This particular gremlin I've spotted only a couple of times early in the mornings, and I noticed that he had found my boyfriend's long-missing cap and a little parcel of assorted other missing items. I'm certain he's not the only gremlin in the apartment complex, as it's very large. Since my first spotting him, I've noticed some subtle hostility, such as a tiny pile of my nails and thumbtacks being placed on the floor of my door frame, and a small string tied across the lower half of another door frame, as if he thought he'd trip the first person to walk out of it.