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.