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.