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.