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.