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.