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.