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.