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.