There once was a mountain goat who loved to climb. All day he would search for the steepest and rockiest peaks and scale them. His name was Nah-gah. Nah-gah was the son of Shinob, the Great Spirit, ruler and creator of the world. One day Nah-gah came upon the tallest mountain in the world. Its peak towered loftily above the clouds and it was twice as rocky than any other mountain he had ever climbed. He had been searching for it for weeks and he was very excited. But as he began climbing he soon found that it was impossible to reach the top. He circled round and round the mountain, searching for a way up. As he was searching he found a tunnel, curving up. Hoping that this route would lead him up to the snow capped top he began to ascend.
It was a hard climb; the tunnel was often too narrow and he had to squeeze himself through. Rocks would fall from the roof of the tunnel, and Nah-gah began to doubt that it was even possible to make it up to the top. But just as he was beginning to despair, he glimpsed light! He burst forward and there in front of him was the mouth of the tunnel. He leapt out of the confines of the tunnel and there he was. It seemed that he was at the top of the world. Even the eagles soared way below. Mountains stretched into the distance and as the sun set it cast shadows into the hills. But when he turned to the tunnel to begin climbing back down, he found that the tunnel was blocked up! Desperately he began pushing at the rubble blocking the tunnel. But it was all to no avail.
From far, far away, Shinob heard the desperate bleats of his beloved son when he saw the dilemma Nah-gah was in; he knew there was no way to help him. But he did not want his son to die, standing lonelily on the cold and windy peak forever. Shinob decided to turn him into a star; Qui-am-i Wintook Poot-see, or, The star that does not move. Shinob placed Nah-gah in the sky, right above the mountain that Nah-gah was trapped upon. The star he became is Polaris.
Today Nah-gah stands in the night sky, guiding and standing there forever.
The end.
This article is by Zion, 16, an Experience Astronomy student from San Jose, California.
