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.