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.