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.