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.