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.