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.