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.