‘ It's so cold.’

  The streets were covered in a thin layer of snow. The sky was blocked by clouds, which blocked the sun. That did nothing to alleviate the cold. There were plenty of people on the city streets despite this. It was the middle of summer, and the weather was all wrong. One day it would be snowing, and the next it would be well over 80. This has been going on for over 7 months, so everyone has to go to work.

  The 2 jackets and coat I was wearing was my only saving grace. Not only that I had two pairs of pants, some gloves, winter boots, and even heat packs in my pockets. I was really interested in being in a relationship, but that didn’t mean I didn’t want to look good. I mean I'm already in my mid twenties. I’m certainly not against a guy approaching me. What guy would approach a woman in below freezing weather?

  ‘I was struggling enough before everything became like this. My only saving grace is the fact that I work inside a building. Street vendors and other people are in far worse straits than me. After this weather is fixed maybe i’ll actually try to find a guy.’

  The thoughts were used to reassure me. I looked up for no reason, but that’s when I noticed something weird. The clouds were no longer moving. This confused me a bit, but what confused me more was what came next.

  There was a figure in the sky. Despite the distance, I could see it clearly. It stood on four clawed paws. Its fur, midnight black, seemed soft yet hard at the same time. 4 eerie blue eyes seemed to stare down at us. There were horns on its head. They curved from his forehead down to the middle of its back. Something about it made me unable to take my eyes away. I could feel myself being drawn into it.

  Suddenly a jolt went through my body. I was no longer staring in the sky but down at the sidewalk. My mind went temporarily blank. I remembered seeing something but I can’t remember what it looked like. What it was. I started to doubt whether it was actually ever there or not. I looked back up in the sky as I saw nothing but clouds.

  ‘ Maybe I'm more tired than I thought. Perhaps I should take a day off. ‘

  As I thought this, a warm sensation started to spread throughout my body. I exhaled in contentment as my body relaxed a bit. My mind felt clearer as I started walking again. I needed to get to work after all. But then I saw something that made me stop once more.

  ‘ What is that? It looks like an ugly small green person. Its ears are rather sharp, and it’s basically naked. Is it some kind of animal? ‘

  As I thought this, other people started to notice it. Many people stopped to look at it as it started to back up. It was shouting something, but I couldn’t understand it. I looked around and saw a guy close to me. He had glasses and he was a bit taller than me. He had on a thick black coat as well. I walked over to him and he soon turned to me.

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  “ Do you know what that is? “

  “ Huh? Oh yeah. I’m not really sure but it looks like a goblin. “

  I titled my head slightly in confusion. I’d never heard of an animal called a goblin before. I knew a goblin shark was a thing, but not a goblin. He seemed to realize my confusion.

  “ A goblin, like something from a game or novel. Small, usually green, ugly, loincloths. The thing is they usually aren’t alone… “

  As he thought this I could see his eyes start to narrow. He looked around while he pulled out his phone. He started calling someone. This confused me though.

  “ What’s wrong? Is it dangerous? You said something about them not being alone right? Are there more around here? “

  My questions weren’t being answered, and I started to feel a bit nervous. The guy I was talking to started talking on the phone.

  “ Jake? You know how the weather has been weird for basically the whole year? I see something like a goblin on the street. Here I'll facetime you. “

  He fiddled with his phone before turning it to the goblin. It was starting to get louder. I looked around a bit more, and out of the corner of my eye I saw something. I looked harder and saw a couple more of those things behind us. They weren’t close but not exactly far. I pulled on the guy's sleeve to get his attention.

  “ Hey, there’s more of them over there. You haven’t told me if they're dangerous or not. “

  He turned around and saw the goblins. His friend called Jake, now on speaker, spoke some words.

  “ Tom, I really don’t think you should stay there. Come back to the apartment for today. Call in sick or something and see if everything is good tomorrow. “

  The guy ,I now know is Tom, nodded.

  “ Yeah, I'll call you later if I don’t get home. If anything I'll be at Turnr… Jake? Hello? “

  I looked at him as his call seemed to cut off. Seeing he was basically ignoring me I turned around. I was planning to take a detour back home, but suddenly a scream resonated throughout the streets. I saw the first goblin from before mauling a man’s face. As he screamed I could see the white snow being dyed red.

  My heart skipped a bit as I stared for a second. Suddenly I felt a surge of energy as I started running across the road. Since all the snow was covering the streets there were no cars. I safely made it across the road and turned right into an alley. I felt my pocket knife and pepper spray in my coat pocket. I would soon need it as I saw 3 more of the goblins blocking my way.

  I turned around and ran out the alley. I tripped but I caught myself. However I was unable to stop myself from running into another woman. We both fell but I didn’t have time to think about it as I got up and started running again.

  “ Sorry! “

  I yelled an apology as I soon heard her screams alongside the noises of the goblins. I looked around and now everywhere had goblins. People were screaming and everything seemed chaotic. I didn’t know where to go as I looked around in panic. I felt something grab my arm. I quickly turned around and sent a punch at the thing. I heard a groan as I noticed it was the man from before.

  “ Damn, why’d you hit me? “

  I didn’t have time to respond as he started dragging me in a certain direction. Usually I wouldn’t let such a thing happen, but the situation didn’t exactly let me be picky.