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.