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.