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.