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.