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.