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.