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.