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.