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.