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.