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.