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.