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.