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temporarily disabled didn’t matter. He’d never felt so good in his life. His body was generating energy like a nuclear reactor and his grin was so wide it threatened to engulf his entire face. Problems were a thing of the past, and had transformed into a colourful sea of opportunities. It was like entering a dream, or perhaps coming out of one, he wasn’t sure which. What he was sure of though was that he’d crossed a border into another realm and his life would never be the same again.
    A fuzzy dark figure appeared in front of him. “How are you doing?” said Stratton’s voice.
    Jennings didn’t answer, he just grinned even wider.
    â€œThat good, eh?” said Stratton. “Welcome to wonderland.”
    It took a good half hour before Jennings finally returned to some sort of normality and even then it wasn’t quite what he was used to. The world seemed somewhat sharper than it had: colours were brighter, objects more defined, sounds crisper and more melodic, fragrances were sweeter and more pungent; it was like he’d been watching an old black-and-white TV and was suddenly immersed in state-of-the-art high definition with super-stereo and ultra-smell.
    Later on, as he sat outside with Stratton enjoying the evening sun and sipping jungle tea, he felt on the verge of a incredible new dawn. “Is this how you feel all the time?” he asked.
    â€œI don’t know, mate, it’s difficult to tell isn’t it? Only an individual can know how he or she feels. But if you feel the same way I did when I had my first attunement, then no. It’s one of those moments you should savour. I think I felt supercharged for about a week – I hardly slept, then it sort of tailed off, or seemed to anyway. It was more like I grew accustomed to my new view of the world though, and that then became my normality.”
    â€œThat’s a shame,” said Jennings. “I could quite get used to feeling like this forever.”
    Stratton took a sip of his brew and gazed out into the trees. “One day you will feel like that forever; everybody will. Or let’s say that everybody has the chance to if they let themselves. You’re at the start of a new journey. Every step you make will be accompanied by a similar reaction to the one you’re feeling now. Each stage of enlightenment will produce a new wave of elation. At the moment you’re dazzled by what you see, but that will pass and you’ll be ready to move on to something even brighter, and so on until you’re able to look directly at the ultimate light and become a part of it.”
    Jennings smiled into the distance. “You know what, Stratton? This is the first time I can honestly say I really know what you’re talking about. Before, I kind of grasped the concepts, but now I actually understand. Does that make sense?”
    â€œOf course it does. But I think you’ve always understood more than most people. You’ve always had the capability it’s just been buried underneath years of instilled ignorance. From the moment your parents dismissed the story of your grandfather as fiction you were always going to struggle. Subconsciously you closed yourself off from anything spiritual and concentrated all your thought on the secular world around you, either to please your mother and father, or through fear of looking stupid I guess.”
    â€œDo you think my grandfather will come and see me again?
    â€ “I don’t know. He’s probably moved on elsewhere. But you’ll see him again one day, in some dimension, I’m sure.”

Chapter 12
    Anatol stood at the window of his hotel and looked out on the buzzing piazza. It was nine pm, and the outside tables of the restaurants and pizzerias were filled with hungry diners all wanting to enjoy the clement evening. Tourists wandered up and down pointing and taking photographs of everything that moved and didn’t, while