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.