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.