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.