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.