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.