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.