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.