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.