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.