A Presumption of Dragons

From ghoulies and ghosties
And long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us!

--Scottish Prayer

More often than not, we presume that things that go bump in the night are nasty: burglars, murderers, ghosts, hobgoblins, werewolves, and repo men.

Might they not be: Santa Claus, the good faerie, your spouse making you a birthday cake or hiding your Christmas present, cats playing or lottery money manifesting on the kitchen table?

Night, the countryside outside the cit...