Will of Man - Part Three Read Free

scavenging for food in the early morning, when all of a sudden, I felt a tremendous surge within my chest. It felt like someone kicked my heart from within. I fell to my knees holding my chest gasping for air.
    I don’t know what caused it, but I do know it scared me and I had never felt that sensation before.
    I tried walking back to camp but found myself shaking too much to walk. I laid on the ground staring up at the fluffy clouds.
    Since the “surge,” I’ve felt a strange sensation from within. I feel an incredible pull towards the east. I can’t explain this pulling sensation other than I feel like I’m in a flowing river and the current is pulling me towards the east.
    I thought maybe my equilibrium was out of whack due to lack of nutrition and pushing too hard during my trekking at night. But no matter what direction I face, the pull is always to the east.
    Just sitting here now, writing in this journal, I feel this tremendous pull, and it’s pulling me to the east. When I walk in the easterly direction, I feel like a wind is to my back and I move easily. When I walk in the opposite direction of the pull, I feel like I’m walking upstream in a river that’s over my head.
    Not only do I feel this pulling, I also feel this uncontrollable thirst for whatever is to the east. I feel like there is something waiting for me if I just follow the pull and go to it.
    However, I cannot. I will continue on to the north. Finding my family is my goal and nothing will stop me.
    Maybe after some good sleep, I will lose this feeling. It must be something in my head. My dad has raced in races that went over the thirty-six hour mark and he felt and saw some really strange things.
    One time, he was doing a thirty-six hour adventure race and he was in the twenty something hour when Dad started to see monkeys swinging in the trees. He could have swore they were following him. We live in Michigan; there are no monkeys in Michigan.
    My dad has also had a complete shut-down of his body due to lack of hydration and nutrition. He said his face went numb, then his arms and legs, then a complete shut-down and he had to disqualify himself from the race. The sad thing about that race is he only had about twenty minutes to go.
    That was hard to accept. That was the first race he ever quit. He said he hated the feeling of quitting and that it bothered him for a long time. He never quit a race after that.
    But today’s sensation is different. I’m scared for my health. There is something wrong with me and I don’t know why. I have been drinking plenty of purified water and don’t consider myself dehydrated. The rule is, that if my urine is clear in color, than I am well hydrated. If it is yellow in color, then I need to drink more.
    I’ve been getting better at trapping and catching and finding food. So I’m eating the best I’ve ever eaten since I started this journey.
    Did I eat something I shouldn’t have? Do I have some kind of poison in me from a berry I should not have eaten? Did I get bitten by a poisonous spider or snake and not realize it? What’s going on with me? I think I will rest here for the next couple days till I feel better.
    Tyler's Journal Entry: 373
    Date: June 16
    Day: Monday
    Weather: Sunny and warm
    Miles to go: 635
    I had a hard time sleeping last night. The pulling sensation has not let up and it seems to be getting stronger. The THIRST, as I call it, is worse too. Everything in my body is saying “Go east!”
    Except for my heart, which is telling me “Go north! That’s where you’re family is.”
    Did I crack my head while sleep walking? What is wrong with me? It all started with that tremendous “surge” I felt in my chest.
    I don’t think I’m going to get better sitting here. I will continue on with my trek north once night falls. Nothing will stop me. I will push on.
    Tyler's Journal Entry: 374
    Date: June 18
    Day: Wednesday
    Weather: Warm and windy
    Miles to go: 641
    I pushed hard the past two