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.