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.