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.