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.