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.