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.