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.