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.