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.