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.