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.