“My mom used to tell me that umm whenever we lost anything that the borrowers took it. And that they built a house for themselves underneath the floorboards, and that whenever we lost anything that they would take it down there and use the objects for different purposes then we would use them. So like for example, if I had lost my glasses the borrowers would take them underneath the floorboards and would have used my glasses as a magnifying glass. Or if I had lost a thimble then the borrowers were probably using that thimble as a hat or something. When the borrowers were done with the item they would put it back someone other than where you had originally put it. That is why things in my house would go missing all the time—because of the borrowers.”

The story of elf-like creatures Devin speaks of originate from Mary Norton’s English novel called The Borrowers, but when I asked Devin if she had ever read the book, she replied that she hadn’t. Perhaps Devin’s family is using Norton’s story as the foundation of this tale, or perhaps they are pulling upon folklore like brownies or hobs. Devin previously said that her family is very Irish and likes to keep up with many traditional Irish tales and legends, so it is possible that her mother was pulling upon Irish folklore to explain the sudden disappearances of common household objects.