Deep in the bamboo forest there lived a Honhon. Grown ups said it was a beast from the before times. That it was old as the mountain. A few even claimed to have seen it, though their stories were full of holes. Some said it had long claws and fangs, that the ground shook when it moved. Some said it lived in trees, or in a deep cave, or under a frozen lake. “It’s breath can move every leaf in the forest!” “When it snores this whole valley echoes with thunder!” Everyone knew the legend of the H...

The blind man sits on his stoop listening to the jets whining over the river and the gurgling of water as it filters through oyster-laden rocks. He l...

CHAPTER IThe ObservatoryWe stand in a ray of starlight taking turns at the eyepiece. The sky is bursting with stars—blue binaries, crimson giants, si...