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.