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.