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.