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.