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.