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.