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.