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.