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.