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.