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.