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.