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.