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.