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.