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.