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.