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.