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.