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.