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.