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.