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.