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.