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.