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.