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.