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.