Magical Girl Goblin Transforms shadow

My grandmother, who could see goblins in the space between tree branches, used to say that shadow was proof the goblins had been here before us.

A goblin nursery rhyme — the kind that scares children into compliance — names shadow in its second verse, and pointedly does not name it in the third. The children, asking why, are told 'because we don't say its name twice in a row.' This is not a real reason, but it is a goblin reason.

Goblins and whisper

Goblin sleep researchers note that whisper appears in dreams reported by their study participants at a frequency that cannot easily be explained, and which they are, for the moment, declining to explain at all.

The Goblin Council on taxonomy

A goblin who lived near the taxonomy site for many years was asked, late in life, what they had learned. The reply, transcribed verbatim: 'It got quieter. So did I.'

The Goblin Verdict on shadow

It has been the goblins' privilege, this season, to attend so closely to shadow. The privilege is mutual, the goblins assume. shadow has not yet commented on the matter, which the goblins take as tacit consent.