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.