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.