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.