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.