Madness string 1134

Random mermaid
They were particularly confused and awed by the vampire squash of the Balkans. Almost as much as the children-hunting fireflies of West Africa and the toe-nail eating ramanga of Madagascar. Before you get to worrying about the sanctity of your feet, normal people would be safe, as these vampires would only feast on the blood and toe-nail clippings of nobility.
My mother brought home dozens of different colored/textured carpet squares in the '70s, and we three older kids, maybe 10 to 13ish, spent the next three weeks using big, curved needles to stitch together enough of them to cover our living room floor. My mother was nuts. Still is, for that matter.