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.