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.