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.