I burst into the swordmaker's shop! Well, stumbled is more honest: my heroic reflexes are a work in progress.

I was ready to challenge the swordmaker... but no one was there. On the table was the most magnificent sword I've ever seen, with a note next to it. It read "Fall seven times, stand up eight."  I thought to myself: is this fate showing its hand?  I took the sword from its sheath and its blade burst into flame!

At that moment, a magic feeling rippled through my entire being. I looked down and saw my body reshape and transform itself. I looked over at a mirror: my face became the artfully drawn one I saw on the moon's surface. I felt like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis. It was glorious.

I let out my best heroic yell and swung the sword. It opened a slash in space and time! Through it, I saw a dark void. It looked like an impossibly long hallway with swirling lights at the end.  I froze in my tracks. Everything was happening so fast.

Then I took a deep breath, put on my best 'fierce samurai' expression, and stepped into the void.

Please enjoy the next post #3 below in the Hekonai Journal:

Post Soundtrack: Vessels - Philip Glass

Into the author’s mind: “This awe-inspiring cue is part of the soundtrack for the documentary Koyaanisqatsi. When I first heard it, I was struck by how Glass could take minimalist melodic motifs and build them into this grandiose cathedral of sound through inventive arranging and layering of the elements. This post captures Hekonai's moment of rebirth so the sense of wonder and the sheer joy of creation in the music made it my immediate and obvious soundtrack choice.”

The Hekonai's Journal is an ongoing meta-narrative. If you want to learn how it came to be, check out the introduction post by clicking here. If you want to read the journal entries from the very beginning, click here.

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