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.