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.