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.