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.