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.