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.