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.