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.