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.