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.