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.