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.