,.-~=^£¤@#                                          #@¤£^=~-.,
.¨¨:«*$£¤#                                          #¤£$*«:¨¨.
,,¨,-»/=@#                                          #@=/»-,¨,,
¨,..¨~»*=*                                          *=*»~¨..,¨
.,¨.,,-~*^                                          ^*~-,,.¨,.
¨.,.¨¨.-~= .   ^   »   ^              /   ~   ^   ¨ =~-.¨¨.,.¨
.¨,¨,¨¨,,=  ¨   :   ~   \            :   ~   ,   ,  =,,¨¨,¨,¨.
,¨,¨...,.:   ,   ,   =   ;          /   =   ^   .   :.,...¨,¨,
,,¨,¨..,,.    .   ,   «   ;        :   -   :   ,    .,,..¨,¨,,
,¨¨.,.¨,,,                                          ,,,¨.,.¨¨,
¨¨,¨,.¨.¨¨ 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.                                 $^~.¨¨¨,¨,
¨.¨..,,.-/                                          /-.,,..¨.¨
,¨¨..,,.^~                                          ~^.,,..¨¨,
.¨¨¨,..,¨,                                          ,¨,..,¨¨¨.
.¨¨...¨,.¨                                          ¨.,¨...¨¨.
,.¨,¨¨¨..¨                                          ¨..¨¨¨,¨.,
¨.¨¨,,,¨.¨                                          ¨.¨,,,¨¨.¨