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.