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.