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.