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.