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.