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.