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.