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.