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.