Having lost a significant portion of the nights sleep Des moved through the next day mostly on autopilot. He had gotten his answers but what would he do with them? What could he do? His mind dwelled on the problem.

  By the time he sat alone in his room he had come to the conclusion.‘He could do nothing’. It had occurred to him that He was a child. One with extra knowledge and experience perhaps but still a child. His manner of entrance to this universe, combined with where he was, had made him feel like he had some sort of obligation but, no. The galaxy's problems were not his to solve, nor did he want them to be. He had lost one life to an accident and he was not in a rush to repeat that feat.

  ‘Never again’ he thought as an image of himself as ‘vegetable Des’ ran through his mind.

  He considered meditating.The peace of the force would be welcome right now but he did not want to lose hours better spent. That combined with Knight Casins warning about losing himself within the Force was enough to prevent him.

  Instead he thought about all the things he was looking forward to. Lightsabers, spaceships, droids and blasters. He wanted to meet a Wookiee, to see Tatooine but most of all he wanted to learn to use the Force.

  He considered asking one of the Knights when he would start force training but he had a feeling that would be a mistake. He thought about the library, he doubted anything in there would allow him to start force training any earlier and had no other questions left for the archives to answer. The holonet had solved that issue.

  He still wished to visit but decided it could wait, he had a lot of boring schooling to get through and would need a distraction at some point down the line.

  ‘Maybe I could visit a ship hanger too, they have to have one in the temple somewhere’, he tried to recall if he had seen one in any of the movies but nothing came to mind. He quickly checked the mapping feature on his holopad with zero success.

  Defeated, he turned to the one task he knew he could do, more lessons. It wasn’t flying starships or swinging lightsabers but that would come.

  Holding firm to his faith Des dove headfirst back into the grind.

  ***

  Days became weeks and weeks became months.

  Des was 3 months in when he started questioning his work ethic. He had been a hard worker in his first life, at least compared to his peers, but not to this degree. He wondered if this was one of the powers he had received. Like he had done before, he tried to search within himself for an answer, for some sense of a power or the force guiding him. He found nothing.

  He began to think this mindless determination had nothing to do with the Force Or strange powers. No something of this reminded Des of his first life, specifically his fifty seven years of brain damage. He had no proof, no evidence at all, yet he was sure. His time as ‘Vegetable Des’ had changed him. For now, it was a boon but he would be watching for any other changes.

  With a greater understanding of himself he returned to his grind.

  It was at the five month mark, half way through the year that things began to change. The monitored self study sessions were at an end, the class were all trusted to carry on that aspect of their education independently. This seemed like a ridiculous amount of trust to place in four year olds to Des but he had to admit, these younglings were far better behaved than any four year old he had known. He also suspected that their work would continue to be monitored, only now it would be done so remotely.

  Replacing the old lessons were classes on philosophy, ethics, the jedi code and lastly meditation. Des was excited, he just had three classes to get through and he would begin his force training.

  Philosophy and ethics held no surprises for Des, while he had never specifically studied either, he had gained enough from pop culture for it to feel familiar. The first jedi code lesson on the other hand had an unpleasant moment for Des. They had been learning the jedi mantra, when one of the other initiates had asked what ‘Death, yet the force’ meant. The jedi teaching them had said “we jedi believe that when a person dies they join with and become part of the force”. Des had begun to laugh internally thinking on his reincarnation, ‘that's not what happened to me, I didn’t die and join the forc-’

  In the midst of the thought he realised, he had died and came here. Where there was the force, where he had felt it, where he was a part of it. From a certain point of view he had indeed died and joined the force.

  ‘Does everyone come here?’ he wondered. Images of his parents in rough spun clothing that had no place on earth once more swam through his minds eye.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  He accepted this as a possibility even if an unlikely one.

  Entering the class for meditation the next day, Des, for the first time felt a kinship with his fellow initiates. Clan Salamander, which was the class's given name, was as excited to get started with the force as he was. Despite the fact that none were talking or in any way acting rowdy, their instructor still told them to “settle down”. Des almost laughed out loud at that but he was able to contain himself as he sat with the others and waited.

  The instructor, a Rodian master by the name of Jenk, began to speak. “Today you embark on a journey that will last you the rest of your life. meditation is the heart of what it means to be a Jedi. self discipline, knowledge and the force, the three pillars of a jedi’s path. Through meditation you will learn all three. You will learn to control your thoughts and emotions. you will come to know and understand yourself. you will come to know the force and deepen your connection to it. From this day forth you will meditate a minimum of five times a day, however the wisest among you will not limit yourselves to just five sessions. Now, let us begin”

  The jedi master instructed them to close their eyes and repeat the mantra they had learned in yesterdays class. Des did so, just like before within moments he was deep within the force. He still recited the mantra but it, like his body, was a distant thing. His emotions drifted off, no longer of any concern to Des, all that mattered was the force.

  A hand on his shoulder brought him back. As he became aware of his surroundings again he realised the hand belonged to master Jenk and they were alone.

  “You lost yourself a little there initiate. Dangerous”. Des could read nothing from his reptilian face but he didn’t have to. Even putting aside the dangers he had been warned of, needing someone else to shake him out of it was, unacceptable. He would miss sleep, miss meals and what if he needed the toilet.

  “What should I do?” he asked.

  The Rodian masters answer was quick, as if he had foreseen this problem. “Begin by reciting the mantra out loud, then enter your meditative state. Try to use the vocalised mantra as an anchor with which to maintain awareness of your physical senses. Understood?”

  Des nodded and began reciting the mantra. On his second cycle he closed his eyes and effortlessly sunk into the force.

  He felt the hand pulling him back straight away. As he opened his eyes he sent a puzzled look towards the master.

  “You stopped reciting the mantra. Again”.

  Des complied.

  His first attempts brought only failure, again and again he was pulled from his altered state by a light hand. Towards the end of the hour he had his first success. As he descended into the force a slight sense of harmony was able to hold a part of his attention. It was not an emotion and thus it did not slip away. From within the force he examined the feeling. He had a distant sense of himself still reciting the mantra, not only that but as he focused he could hear his own voice. The combination had created the anchor he needed to not lose himself. All that remained was to pull himself out.

  Just as easily as he had entered Des exited his trance. He opened his eyes and smiled up at master Jenk. Perhaps the master smiled back or maybe he frowned. Des had no way to know, all he said was “again”.

  Undeterred, Des spoke the words of the jedi mantra once more then closed his eyes and began to meditate.

  The hand of failure brought him back as quickly as he had left.

  “Again”.

  At the end of the second hour the master called an end to the one on one session. Des had had more successes but he was far from consistent, he had yet to achieve even a fifty percent success rate.

  “You show improvement but there is much work to be done”, said master Jenk. “until you can maintain your awareness you are not to meditate. I will arrange for my padawan to assist you until then”.

  Having clearly been dismissed Des said a quick “Thank you, master” and left.

  using the Master title had felt good to Des, he felt connected in a way he had not previously. He had just had a lesson from a Jedi Master on the force. Sort of. Even with his issues Des was still having the best day he had had since he woke up here.

  His good mood carried him along as he walked back. Even the sight of three initiates waiting at the entrance to his room could not shake it. He slowed as he approached taking in the three.

  The Rodian girl stood out to Des having just had a lesson with master Jenk. her scales were much lighter than his, with a tinge of blue bordering on turquoise. Beside her was a human boy Des thought was named Jason and taking up the rear was an Ithorian that gave off a sense that he didn’t want to be here. They were all from his class, clan salamander.

  Des was about to ask what they wanted but the girl spoke before he could.

  “You were sleeping, Right?”

  Confused by the question Des was about to ask what she meant when the boy he thought was named Jason chastised her.

  “Shofo! That was rude” he turned to Des “sorry. We wanted to ask you about class earlier” he paused, seemingly unsure of what he was about to ask. Gathering his words he continued, “Did you sense it?”

  Playing catch up within his mind Des pieced together what they were asking him.

  “Yes, I sensed the force. No, I was not sleeping”. He expected the Rodian girl to argue given her question but she did not. They accepted his words easily, as if they had hoped that would be his answer.

  Des got a bad feeling he knew what their next question would be.

  “What did it feel like?”

  Des was caught off guard, that had not been the question he had expected. He had been sure they were about to ask him for help or what his trick was. He considered what to tell them.

  Deciding to keep it simple he said “peaceful, yet charged, like the moment before a race starts”. It utterly failed to capture the force but it would do for this.

  The boy Jason seemed to contemplate his words, the girl, for some reason Des got the sense she was pleased. As hard as she was to read, the Ithorian was even worse. He was yet to speak which disappointed Des a little, he was curious what someone with two mouths would sound like. Half a year in and he was still to hear it.

  “Is that all you wanted?” Des asked before the silence could get awkward.

  “Uh, yeh that's everything.Thanks”.

  The three exchanged glances seeming to have a silent conversation before walking past Des and down the corridor he had come from. As they were going Des thought he heard the Rodian girl say “told you” but he paid it little mind.

  Entering his room he decided to check his schedule for next week before he got to work. He wanted to see when the master had scheduled his meditation training with his padawan.

  It had all been changed again. This week's classes were now on politics, diplomacy, history and the jedi code. On top of that there was now an hour of physical training each afternoon and the mandatory five meditation sessions, or meditation lessons in Des’s case. Not exactly what he had expected but he was happy for the help.

  He was going to have to find time for his normal studies too. Undeterred by the workload Des opened up the next lesson on his holopad and dived once more into his grind.