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.