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.