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.