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.