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.