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.