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.