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.