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.