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.