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.