¤*«~.,¨.,. .,.¨,.~«*¤
@¤*«^¨¨,¨. .¨,¨¨^«*¤@
#£%†~:¨,,¨ ¨,,¨:~†%£#
@@@%%~.,,. .,,.~%%@@@
##¶&$§«,,¨ ¨,,«§$&¶##
###¶#**=~, . - ~ \ † ~ ~ ¨ ,~=**#¶###
###£**«-¨, ¨ , ~ : \ ~ - , ,¨-«**£###
##&§§~,.¨. , ~ ~ : ^ » ~ ¨ .¨.,~§§&##
£§&†~,,.,, . ~ - † / « - , ,,.,,~†&§£
#**-^¨¨¨,. .,¨¨¨^-**#
§$«^¨.,.,¨ as we cross the mountain, we can walk ¨,.,.¨^«$§
$«,.,.,¨,¨ only at night. long ago, someone here ¨,¨,.,.,«$
~:¨,,¨..¨. 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. ,,:=%@&¶##
###¶§&$=~¨ ¨~=$&§¶###
##@#%§«.¨, ,¨.«§%#@##
#@§$*=-,¨¨ ¨¨,-=*$§@#
¶§%*-~.,,¨ ¨,,.~-*%§¶
§£†~-,¨¨,, ,,¨¨,-~†£§
%%»~¨,¨,¨. .¨,¨,¨~»%%