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.