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.