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.