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.