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.