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.