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.