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.