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.