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.