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.