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.