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.