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.