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.