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.