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.