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.