Entry #1: What is a Littl?

I'm pretty sure you will read this journal as a fiction--a fantasy invented for the amusement of others. I cannot persuade you to think otherwise, nor do I want to try. I can only put onto paper what I've seen and observed, no matter how fantastical it may be.

It all began one day when I found the sugar bowl in my kitchen turned upside down. Sugar was spilled all over the counter and the window above the counter was cracked open a little. There were tiny prints in the spilled sugar, but they were so small I figured that they must belong to mice or something similar. I swept up the sugar and closed the window, but instead of dismissing the incident from my mind, I decided to set up a simple trap.

A few jelly beans for bait.

Using a corn handle, I propped up a colander and laid three jelly beans and a sprinkling of sugar under the trap as bait. I figured that since whatever it was liked sugar, it might also like jelly beans.

I went about my day as usual and often checked back on my trap, but it remained undisturbed. I left the trap setup over night and it was only once I was in bed that I realized that I'd closed the window. There was no way something as small as a mouse could open the window, but I was too tired to get up again.

I woke early the next morning and went downstairs to check on my trap. Much to my surprise, I found the kitchen window cracked open and the colander sitting right-side up (rather than upside down). The jelly beans were gone, but something small and furry lay on the counter just under the window.

Loni was embarrassed getting caught looking so
bloated. He tried to tear my drawing up, but I've
managed to patch it back together with some tape.

At first, I thought it was a large mouse or a rat, but I could see that it was wearing clothing--tiny scraps of worn fabric sewn together with stitches so small that I could not see them. Most of the third jelly bean was clutched in the creature's hand and the creature itself was snoring quietly.

Either my movement or scent woke the creature and it stared at me with large, blue-green eyes that were so human-like that I was stunned into silence. After a long moment, it tried to sit up, but its stomach was so large that it could hardly bend in the middle. It muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "Curse those beans!" before trying to roll away down the length of the counter. I stopped its movement by creating a wall with my hand and I asked it what it was.

"There's no need to shout!" it cried back at me, dropping the jelly bean and covering its long ears with its hands. I wasn't aware that I had been shouting. I was speaking in a normal voice, but I supposed that since it was so much smaller, my normal voice might sound much louder. In a quieter voice I repeated my question. "I'm Loni," it told me. When I emphasized that I wanted to know what it was, it said, "A boy." It seemed he didn't call himself by any sort of species name. For clarity from now on, I will refer to creatures like Loni as "Littls" since they are so small.

Loni; he only stood still for about a minute before he began
wandering around again. I had to persuade him with some
grapes to sit still long enough for me to sketch in the finer
details. He tends to give me this look a lot. I'm not sure why.

It took a long time to convince Loni that I was not going to stick him in a cage, nor was I going to feed him to a cat. By the time he could move around again, I felt we'd established a decent understanding: I would provide food and shelter for him if he would tell me about himself and others like him.

According to Loni, Littls are just about everywhere, living and hiding from humans. They are, in fact, as fascinated by humans as we are (or at least I am) by them. They take worn out clothes from driers and from under beds to make their own clothes, though that is not to say that they can't make their own fabrics.

Loni has announced his preference for light-weight cotton in pretty much any color except purple. He says that it makes him look like a berry.

Littls like sweet things and often venture into human-inhabited areas to find sugar or cookies or anything else sweet that has been left out. Loni told me that they only go in at night so that they aren't spotted and there is a network of information about houses that have cats (creatures the Littls avoid at all costs). They seem to be okay with dogs, but Loni wouldn't explain why when I asked. He just shrugged.

Littls are very clean and they see their personal hygiene as extremely important. Loni explained to me that being dirty would lead to sickness and a lack of luck. Later, he hinted at girl Littls liking the scents of various flowers, so I guess that's what he meant by "luck". Hairstyles are also very important to Littls. They are emphatic about being different then everyone else and so there are some rather... elaborate hairstyles worn by some Littls if Loni is to be believed (I have no reason not to believe him). According to Loni, Littl hair grows continuously throughout their lifetime, never stopping.

When I asked him if there were any bald Littls, he didn't understand what I meant, so I explained. To say he looked horrified would be putting it mildly, but it is the only word I have for the expression he showed me then. Hair is very important to the Littls. It's a sign of health, status, and creativity. Loni told me that he'd never seen a Littl without hair and said that he pitied humans without hair.

It was at this point that he pointed out that my hairstyle (a simple ponytail) was a little plain, but I decided not to try and explain that humans didn't strive to be different by any means necessary when it came to hair (mostly because I felt I would probably lose the argument).

Littls also pride themselves on their tails, though some types of Littls had different tails. Loni explained that most of the Littls in my area had a tail like his but that his was nicer. When I asked why, he waggled it at me and said, "Look at the shine! I have a secret oil that makes the fur very healthy." Thinking back to his mention of "luck" and female Littls, I asked him if he had someone special that he wanted to show off for. He blushed and fidgeted while insisting that he didn't.

Loni comes by often these days, telling me stories of other Littls and keeping me abreast of the latest Littl trends. I look forward to our future conversations and I also hope to keep a log such as this of each of those occasions.

--Doc. Fizzy