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.