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.