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.