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.