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.