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.