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.