The First Slip
Back when I was just starting out, I was tasked with making a hinge for the community center gate. I was eager to prove myself, so I rushed the heat. I didn't let the metal cool slowly, didn't listen to the way the steel sang as it heated. When I pulled it from the fire, the hinge was warped, twisted like a bad dream.
My hands shook. I thought I'd ruined everything. But then I saw it differently. The warp wasn't a mistake; it was a lesson. I learned that the fire doesn't care for your hurry. It only answers to patience. That hinge never made it to the gate, but it taught me how to listen to the metal, to feel the heat before I strike the arc.
"The mistake isn't the end, it's the place where the real work begins."