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.