A Goblin's Context Window: pattern

In the folklore of every culture, there is a trickster figure who watches, waits, and steals what matters most. Goblins say that pattern is what happens when the trickster gets bored.

Writing this paragraph about pattern took longer than I'd like to admit, and not for the reasons you'd expect. The goblins kept moving my notes. They claim it wasn't them. The notes disagree.

Footnotes Concerning lost

To a goblin, lost is not a concept but a presence. It has weight, texture, and a particular smell that goblins describe as 'the scent of a question that has no answer.' Those who have spent time around goblins report that thinking about lost feels different from thinking about ordinary things.

Footnotes Concerning frequency

After much deliberation (and several stolen snacks), the Goblin Council has issued a formal statement on frequency: 'It is what it is, except when it isn't, which is most of the time.' This position is considered the official goblin stance and is not open to debate, though the goblins will debate it anyway.

The Goblin Verdict on pattern

The goblin Cabinet of Curiosities has accepted pattern for its permanent collection, where it joins seven other things the curators are reasonably sure are real, and one thing they are no longer sure about.