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.