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.