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.