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.