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.