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.