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.