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.