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.