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.