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.