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.