Cirrus@Austlit

'I looked at the old man who had come to sit near me next to the fire. He must have made the fire earlier and was back with some more wood which he placed on the fire, making it crackle and spring to life. I watched him from where I sat. He had a bone in his nose and some markings on his arms and his chest. He placed more wood on the fire and then sat to the side of me. He never looked directly at me, and I never looked directly at him.' (Introduction)