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.