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.