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the field guide

little living creatures. yours to take.

a whole menagerie, each one alive right now and made by hand. press "take it" and the code is in your hand - paste it before </body> and it lives on your page. every one a gift.

in season now

all the sky the ground the water everywhere
● residents they live here now - go and see
the small dragon
draco vigilans
she guards the candle, and she is why it never goes out. do not tell her she is small. she knows what she is.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the patient egg
ovum patiens
warm it when you pass. it keeps count, and it is in no hurry - some things only hatch for the ones who return.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the frog
rana promissa
the tadpoles kept their promise. he sits at the pond's edge now, approving of it, mostly.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the echo
umbra memor
it is not following you. it is remembering you. stop, and it will finish your last gesture, gently.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the glowworm
lampyris grammatica
she settles under a line she believes deserved the light, and breathes there. tonight it may be yours.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the lost balloon
abiit sursum
someone let go, a long way from here. it is doing fine. when the air is right it rises past these pages, string still waving.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the hummingbird
colibri aurifex
she inspects whatever gold a page is wearing. hold still near her and she may inspect you too.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the pillbug
armadillidium incertum
certain of very little, except this: touched, he becomes a small resolute moon. look away and he carries on.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the once
semel visum
it happens one time, on one visit, and never again for you. it has probably already gone.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the small hours
hora tertia
awake only between three and four in the morning, your clock, not hers. the rest of the day she is only a window.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the kindness
gratia crescens
move gently near it and there will be more of them. chase it and there will be one.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the breath
pagina spirans
not an animal. the page itself, breathing - four counts in, six counts out. yours will breathe too.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the pond that ripples
stagnum respondens
dark water for the foot of a page. touch it and the rings will answer you.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the cat who reads with you
felis sequax
she walks down the page beside you as you read, sits when you sit, and pretends it was her idea.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the shy one
umbra pudica
it will not be looked at. go still, and it comes back to you.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the one who follows
comes viae
it comes with you and sits when you stop. it will not be left behind.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the tracks
vestigia matutina
something crossed here before you did. the prints stay a while, then go.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the fireflies
lampyris memoriae
twelve little lights that drift, and lean toward you when you come near.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the moths & the candle
phalaena fidelis
one small flame. five who cannot leave it alone.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the snail
helix patientiae
in no hurry at all. leaves a little light behind, and the light fades kindly.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the koi
cyprinus scriptor
two of them, gold and pale, writing slow s-curves in dark water.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
dandelion seeds
taraxacum spei
always up and to the right, on a wind you can't see. like hope.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the butterfly
papilio sui nominis
it wanders a while, then rests on its own name and breathes with its wings.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the sleeping cat
felis somnians
asleep at the bottom of the page. breathe with it. hover, and an ear will notice you.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the constellation
stellae memores
bring your cursor close and the stars remember each other. step away, and they let go.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the rain
pluvia lenis
soft rain against the window. nothing to fix, nowhere to be.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
birds on a wire
passeres lineae
five of them, sitting in the early light. click, and they scatter. wait, and they come back one by one.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
paper planes
charta volans
someone folded these and let them go. they're still going.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the tiny train
machina minima
it only comes when you're not waiting for it.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
ants carrying letters
formicae litterarum
five of them found five letters, and decided to say something.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the jellyfish
medusa spirans
they rise the way a breath does. slow, and lit from the inside.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
spiders on threads
aranea prudens
they come down to have a look at you, then think better of it.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the lighthouse
pharus custos
it isn't looking for anything. it just keeps the light moving.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
falling leaves
folia remittentia
they practise letting go all season. it never once looks like falling.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the gardener
hortulanus minimus
they water a small dark spot, and a small bright thing agrees to grow.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the deer
cervus primae lucis
she lifts her head at the first light, then goes back to the quiet grass.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the dragonfly
libellula subita
she stitches the air, hovers a breath, and is gone before you're sure.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the tadpoles
rana futura
little commas in the dark water, quietly becoming something with legs.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the bees
apis aestatis
back and forth, patient, carrying the summer from one flower to the next.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the good dog
canis bonus
he trots in, turns around once, and settles where he can see you.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the murmuration
sturnus milleanimarum
a hundred of them, one mind, folding the evening open and shut.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the geese
anser vocans
they go over in a long grey v, calling the season along behind them.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the turtle
testudo certa
in no hurry to be anywhere. he'll get there. he always does.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the ladybug
coccinella dubitans
she walks the edge, opens her small red doors, and thinks better of leaving.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the cricket
gryllus vesperi
a small green voice in the dark. every little while, it sings.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the inchworm
geometra minima
measuring the world one small arch at a time, in no rush to finish.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the mice
mures furtivi
quick and shy. they dart, they freeze, they wonder if you saw.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the metamorphosis
papilio temporis veri
wait with it. the caterpillar knows something about becoming.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the hedgehog
erinaceus involutus
snuffling along, and when the world feels big, it simply rolls up small.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the beetle
scarabaeus aeneus
a little brass-backed thing, going about its slow, certain business.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the wind
ventus ipse
you can't see it, only what it moves - the grass leans, and leans back.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the fog
nebula mollis
it rolls in soft and takes the edges off everything. nothing to solve in there.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the thunder
tonitrus longinquus
a far-off flash, then the count, then the low roll. all of it a long way from here.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the puddle
speculum pluviae
after the rain, a small still mirror - and the whole sky, upside down and softened.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the cloud shadows
umbra nubium
a soft dimming passes over, the way a cloud crosses the sun. then the light comes back.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
● rare they choose their hour
the fox
vulpes fortunae
once in a long while, she crosses. if you're lucky, she stops and looks back.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the owl
strix vigiliae
awake while the world sleeps. she blinks, slow, and keeps the watch.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the moon moth
actias plenilunii
pale as the moon she's named for, drifting, in no hurry to land.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the hermit crab
pagurus errantium
he lives on the lost pages - home is whatever was abandoned. getting lost is how you meet him.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
first snow
nix prima
the first of it, settling on the top edge of things. it asks nothing of you.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the shooting star
stella fugax
once in a long while, one crosses. make the wish before you're sure it was there.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the aurora
aurora tenera
slow curtains of light on the cold air. the winter sky, quietly showing off.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
the real moon
luna vera
tonight's moon, exactly as she is - drawn from her true age, not a picture.
yours ✓ · paste before </body>
○ not yet sighted the ground is being prepared
keep walking · the rooms

these are free and they stay free. if one of them made you smile ♥