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.