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.