Based on the Sock Thief prompt from Hillary
The Lint Monster by Hillary
This species is on the verge of extinction thanks to the invention of the lint trap in modern dryers. Without the lint from the trap to sustain them (as humans thoughtlessly scrape and toss out the lint), the lint monster is forced to steal single socks from the dryer - the only pieces of clothing that are small and light enough for their frail bodies to carry, yet still substantial enough to produce enough pills and light lint fuzz for a meager meal.
The sock mantis is a strange creature, they look like a cross between a shrimp, praying mantis and frog. Their most notable feature are their exposed organs that hang from a sack off the end of a tentacle/tail-like appendage. This sack contains all of their major internal organs, reproductive organs and several fanlike 'land gills'. Having their major organs so exposed leaves a 'naked' sock mantis incredibly vulnerable...
Because of this sock mantises use human socks as travelling homes. They are nocturnal and search for socks late at night. When found they wear the sock over their organ-sack, hunch down and scuttle on their tip toes. Their eyes are on stalks and are able to peep out beneath the sock, their hooked antennae hold the fabric in place over their 'tail.'
Sock mantises are fiercely territorial and only one sock mantis may live in a single human household. For this reason humans often find that only one sock of a pair will go missing at a time. When a sock wears out a sock mantis must replace it with a new sock.
Only during mating season will sock mantises venture out of their chosen apartment to find a mate. The males will try to attract a female by a bioluminescent light show transmitted through the sock by specialized 'communication sacks.' sock mantis eggs are spun out of (you guessed it) threads of old socks and the young will often spend their first years of life under sofas or beds.
Sock mantises are quiet, and solitary, feeding off human toenails, skin debris and lint. Most people never even realize that they have a sock mantis living with them.
The nearly invisible, nearly imaginary story sipper unravels socks. Each sock carries impressions of the places the owner has been - all the sights, emotions, the movement and life that was experienced while wearing the sock. The sipper carefully unravels the knit of the sock (only socks that have been freshly washed; sippers are scrupulously clean and, besides, stories don't wash away with soap) and drinks up the stories and memories. Once the stories have been licked away, the threads dry out and turn into cobwebs and lint. A sipper often only takes one sock, because it gets bored with stories it's drunk before. Story sippers also nibble at sweaters, t-shirts, and the knees of jeans, leaving small holes.
She makes the pipes her home, climbing up with the help of her sticky little toes and grippy, ribbed belly. A nice, cotton sock is her favorite source of fiber. Her young hide in the toes and have a few bites when hungry, while mom grips with her tail and drags them around. Shiny scales are very attractive, so she makes sure to polish them every now and then.
Males (not pictured) are smaller and have hookless tails.
They grow on plants and steal socks for a sock hop race.
This monster is Sue. She is nocturnal and needs her "beauty sleep" so she steals socks to help block out the sunlight as she snoozes.
The primordial ooze from which this monster emerged is the humble lint trap. A hybrid of human DNA and dryer fluff, it was originally was just a blob, but over generations took on the shape of a dowdy gray sweater. It survived by eating socks, which are unraveled and metabolized into flesh. Personalities are determined by the ratio of wool to cotton to polyester. They live in the vent tubes and only come out to eat.
