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.