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.