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.