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.