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.