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.