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.