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.