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.