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.