Monsters Are Us

The dreaded Snailox, pronounced "snay-lox" (with thanks to TE for the suggestion!)

Habitat: the lower margin of University of Chicago Library, Special Collections Research Center, MS 348 fol. 31, opening folio for the hour of Terce for the Little Office of the Virgin Mary.

Diet: acanthus leaves, thistles, (possibly) butterflies.

Strength: that of an ox.

Speed: that of a snail.

Powers: induce sloth and distraction in the minds of readers, forcing them to ruminate for hours over the same text. May also encourage web-browsing in search of images of, for example, acanthus leaves, leading to discoveries such as the site linked above on how to draw said leaves.

Very dangerous, but easy to escape if you can manage to turn the page.

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