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.