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.