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.