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.