as  we  cross the mountain, we  can walk 
 only at  night.  long ago, someone  here 
 must've angered  the  sun,  and today it 
 still burns  us strangely. but with  the 
 sunset the  air comes  raining back down 
 and  gets  thick  enough to breathe.  it 
 carries with  it smells  from far  away, 
 colourful sparks for the imagination,  a 
 sharp  contrast  for the stale black  of 
 the night.                               
                                          
 the others think  i'm young,  they don't 
 take   me  seriously  and  i  fear  they 
 snicker  a  bit.  you  usually  get  old 
 before  you  learn the  trade enough  to 
 take other people.  but i  do lead  them 
 safely     forward,     every     night. 
                                          
 however,  currently  there  seems to  be 
 something  going on ahead.  those around 
 the   corner  have  stopped,   shouting, 
 pointing.                                
                                          
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
                                          
 my greatest treasure, the                
 book of stars,  is   a   combined   map, 
 calendar and timepiece  as  long as  you 
 know what year  it  is. every page is  a 
 grid of  nine  starfields,  hand  drawn, 
 below  which are written  coordinates in 
 both space  and  time.  a  lot  of it is 
 applicable  on  earth, but  not all.  it 
 hints  of  other  places  -  some  stars 
 reordered,  some   names  i  have  never 
 heard.   sometimes   the    dates    are 
 impossible.                              
                                          
 those pages  are exactly what i scramble 
 for right  now. i've stopped  breathing. 
 i sling open the book  of  stars  a  bit 
 too quick, spilling all my notes on  the 
 ground. one  lands on  my  foot, it is a 
 drawing  of a  muscle cow,  but i  could 
 care less right now.                     
                                          
 for it  seems like there's a new moon in 
 the sky.