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.