Sphere 170

Encapsulated Passions 108

One sphere for every passion a person carries. When the last one is gone, the cycle ends.

The count comes from the juzu, the Japanese string of 108 beads, where each bead stands for one passion — and not all of them are faults; many are what people call virtues. I did not arrive at this through belief: years of guiding through Japan's temples and sacred places left me not doctrine but a number — this many, and no more.

Each sphere seals one passion under acrylic glass. Which one, I keep unspoken — the works are not numbered, and none names its passion. When the hundred-and-eighth finds its collector, the cycle closes and will not be resumed.