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.