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.