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.