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.