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.