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.