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.