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.