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.