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.