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.