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.