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.