Part X: Read Part VII Or Don't Read At All

Completely free now from any inhibition or setbacks, the man walked at a faster pace than ever. He walked for miles. Days. Nights. Soon he completely forgot about the strange happenings and his ex-companion who never really brought anything useful to the journey anyhow. He only held the man back from true progress. Every 1760 steps the man took, he scooped up a handful of sand, spit in it, and tossed it over his shoulder. This happened at a pace of approximately every 24 minutes. In this way, the man completely forgot about the 24 minutes before him and the thoughts he thought during that time. In this way also, the man had no way of knowing how many times he repeated this action but anyone who happened to observe him would have easily been able to establish that he had taken a total of 43,826,728 steps since the death of his comrade. Each of these steps had been in perfect alignment with any two of his other steps (with the same foot of course, as one foot is approximately 10 inches to the side of the other) making it quite clear that the direction the man was headed was indeed straight. Simple math would prove indubitably that the man had been walking for well over 3 days. WELL over. However, during this part of the journey the sun never rose. The moon shone high in the sky, sometimes full, sometimes new. Sometimes it waned, and sometimes it waxed. Sometimes it even set. Never, however, did dawn arrive. The man didn't notice. How could he? He had forgotten everything before his last toss of sand and therefore he didn't know how long he had known this darkness. It all seemed quite normal. Of course, it would be. Besides, without the blistering heat of a desert sun, who could mind a little darkness. Near the poles, there are seasons of total darkness as the earth tilts away from the sun on its axis, but those people don't seem to move away. Though some do. But the fact is that it is proven that some don't and therefore it is possible not to mind the absence of the sun. In any case the man never tired during this part of his journey and one who hadn't forgotten the events of past would only be able to conclude that the presence of a certain cold-blooded comrade were the sole reason for his numerous pauses and rests he had previously taken. The man no longer felt lost, though how lost could a man who at most can remember the previous 24 minutes of his life feel? He no longer felt hungry or thirsty, though for all he knew he had just eaten and drank less than half an hour ago. He concentrated only on two things. One: He must finish this journey. And two: How many steps he had taken.

Though to this point he had no idea how many steps he had taken altogether, it was upon his 43,826,728th step that the man stopped.

With impeccable posture, the man stood straight, staring at the ever evasive horizon. He took a deep breath. He blinked 3 times. And with that, he sat in the sand, which was no longer mounded in dunes but straight on a plane, to the last grain, though such detail was imperceptible to the man. Setting the briefcase in front of him, the man crossed his legs. He snapped open the latches and lifted his case open. Pulling out the unopened letter which lay beneath everything else the man had once had stored safely and in perfect order, the man closed the briefcase and set the envelope on top. For almost half the time it took him to walk 14,080 steps, the man stared at the envelope. Finally, he exhaled quickly and snatched the envelope from the top of the briefcase. Tearing it open quickly, but oh so carefully, the man pulled from the envelope a single sheet of paper folded into thirds. Opening the stationary, the man begin to read the first of 81 words centered on the sheet, written in courier new font, size 10, in gold letters. The letter was signed but the man couldn't even force his eyes to move onto the author's name. Upon finishing reading, the man's memory flooded back. All of it. He felt hungry and thirsty for the first time in God knows how long. Again, the man began to feel lost. Carefully folding the letter, he looked to the heavens and began to weep.

X