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.