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.