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.