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.