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.