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.