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.