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.