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.