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.