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.