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.