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.