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.