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.