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.