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.