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.