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.