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.