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.