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.