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.