All summer I made friends br with the creatures nearby - br they flowed through the fields br and under the tent walls, br or padded through the door, br grinning through their many teeth, br looking for seeds, br suet, sugar; muttering and humming, br opening the breadbox, happiest when br there was milk and music. But once br in the night I heard a sound br outside the door, the canvas br bulged slightly - something br was pressing inward at eye level. br I watched, trembling, sure I had heard br the click of claws, the smack of lips br outside my gauzy house - br I imagined the red eyes, br the broad tongue, the enormous lap. br Would it be friendly too? br Fear defeated me. And yet, br not in faith and not in madness br but with the courage I thought br my dream deserved, br I stepped outside. It was gone. br Then I whirled at the sound of some br shambling tonnage.