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.