Alison Croggon
			He was born inside a nut which grew at the top of the highest tree in the world. The tree grew on an island in the middle of a copper blue lake. One day a blackbird came along and pecked the nutshell with its yellow beak and his eyes split open. He hadn't known there were so many colours. When the blackbird asked him if he wanted to climb onto its back he did, just like that. They flew away from the tree over the blue lake until they came to the other shore. There the blackbird set him down and he looked around. He was bigger than a crocus flower, and that seemed very big to him, but the world was bigger still. He looked at the sky and wondered if he could touch it. He touched the earth and wondered if he could fly through it. He thought the air and the water were the same thing. He didn't know anything. "What shall I do?" he asked the blackbird. "I don't know anything." The blackbird flew away without answering. He sat on a stone on the edge of the lake looking at the blue world. The wind was very cold. Something wet ran down his face, but he didn't know what it was. He started to sing.