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.