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.