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.