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.