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.