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.