Recipe for a Night Creature
“Night Creatures, unlike stars, do not come OUT at night—they come ON, each thinking that before the night is out he or she will be the star!” — Duke Ellington
When the sun starts to get low either head out to gather nighttime ingredients you don’t have or run home – because a real night creature isn’t ready until the last minute and there’s much to do.
If you’re out, hit the grocery store or bodega — wherever there’s a plethora of supplies, edible and hardware. You’re going to want a snack, or bobby pins – things sinful, inane, or necessary – to welcome and prepare for indulgences. This is especially true if you don’t have time to cook a proper dinner.
Give the cashier and everyone in the store big smiles — who knows, maybe (maybe, maybe) you’ll run into some of them later. You want to start charging yourself and the outside world with mischievous energy that coaxes out surprise encounters and encourages this urge to go out tonight.
As you make your way home for next steps, feel how the air and the light — both natural and synthetic — change from day to night creature conditions. Let the bold sunset blast its cool through you; hold it in when you are able. It’ll be a beacon at 3am that will remind you where you’ve come from.
If you’re home already — get moving! Catch a bit of that sunset too, if you can, and let it catapult you into the darker hours.
Get showered; be sure to luxuriate. Sing in there, pose in there, celebrate the nude energy that will be showcased even when you’ve got your outfit on. Step out and goof off for a while. Eat your sinful snacks or spoon in (straight from the pan) whatever you started cooking for dinner earlier because more than likely you won’t finish it.
Music should be blasting once you’re out of the shower. Even better, turn on a local station and let the DJ’s real time selections glorify the present; you, them, and everyone tuned in are preparing themselves for the night and some like you are undergoing a transformation. Sense them. Imagine their skin and yours brushing each other at the bar in a few hours. Groove around your space and feel connected.
Now decide how you’ll present yourself tonight — whether slouchy boi or princess you’re pristine now, so your look is being composed on a nice, clean canvas. Preen and lotion your entire body because you want to smooth your way through the night – and who knows who’ll see which folds and curves later; it all depends on your mood. You don’t want anyone to glean anything from your surface except for irrepressible perfection.
When choosing your clothing and accessories to become a night creature it’s not wrong to posture! Maybe you’re not in the mood to take on the night just yet; maybe you’re still socially anxious. If that’s the case, throw on one thing that is your idea of “intense” or “flashy.” Maybe it’s a small, rude pin or massive earrings or booty shorts worn under jeans you’ll peel off later on a dance floor. (If you can, be practical, and bring a pair of shoes for dancing specifically. There will be a dance floor, the final ingredient – night creatures dance!)
Once you feel like a champion and a killer (of evil hearts and deeds) and your clothes feel like your skin (like a cartoon character’s must) get into the bathroom and smize and smirk and flirt in the mirror and
brush your teeth! then put on your face.
Face yourself in the mirror, whether you’re just putting in your contact lenses, rubbing on some chapstick or moisturiser, or doing a whole contour. Face yourself. And don’t be afraid to experiment. Don’t be afraid to look wacky as hell or scary as hell.
Night creatures are what some might consider freaky. Night creatures announce themselves. Night creatures quietly vibrate on the subway or loudly glow and are often found shouting down the phone at the rest of their pack to say, “I’m on my way!” between fits of laughter.
When you’re ready, make a big thing of stepping into or lacing up your shoes, donning your coat or a cheeky hat, and… stepping out into the night. Let the cool air refresh and bathe you. Let the reverberations of distant neon sing in your ears. The stars are up there tasering you with celestial energy; blow a kiss at them.
This recipe is best when you take that moment after stepping out and let it simmer for a minute, even if you’re late to the function (which is so very night creature). Then dash to sidewalk, up it, down it, to your transport and
feel the energy waves hit your brain – the music, the people chattering. More will amass as they stream out of bars and shops you pass. You’ll be at once a benevolent, masterful queen of this world, grazing your subjects with all your senses, and merely one of many in a jubilant night-time ecosystem.