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.