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.