Part 1 of 15
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Jim Allenson. Nice guy. Smart. Majoring in Information Technology. Jim lived an ordinary life until he met a remarkable individual. In Part 1 of
"My Perfect Tens,"
we see how Jim's ordinary life suddenly became extraordinary.
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It wasn't easy climbing the last part of the trail. I'd carried my backpack all day, and it felt heavy.
Just a bit farther,
I told myself, looking ahead to the crest where the ascent ended.
A beautiful vista appeared when I finally crossed the ridge. The hills descended to the west, meeting the Pacific. The sun was on the horizon; it wouldn't be long before the light was gone and stars appeared. I was tired, hungry, and anxious to pitch my tent before dark. It was reassuring to see other tents placed on a little flat field just ahead. I planned to join the other backpackers, spending the night in this beautiful place.
I managed to set up my tent in just a few minutes, then pulled out my sleeping bag and put it inside. Moving automatically, I got out my tiny propane stove and dehydrated dinner, then put a small pot of water on to boil. Dehydrated food is not my favorite, but it always tastes delicious after a long day of hiking sharpens my appetite.
There was more than enough room in my two-man tent. When I planned this weekend hike, I expected my girlfriend Janice would be with me. At the very last minute, her boss said she needed to work on a time-sensitive project. Janice encouraged me to go by myself, saying I shouldn't ruin my weekend just because of her job.
I was thinking how much I missed Janice when I spotted something odd. A piece of metal was half buried in the dirt next to me. I dug it out and saw it was a compass that had been exposed to the elements for a long time. I cleaned off some of the soil and tried to get a closer look when something like a swirling cloud of vapor emerged from the compass.
This is going to sound unbelievable, but when the vapor blew away what remained was a man in such poor condition he looked scary. His hair and beard were dirty and needed trimming. His clothes were filthy and torn. He was missing several teeth. His bare feet looked as though he'd walked a hundred miles over rough terrain. He smelled. But the worst thing was that he was so scrawny you could tell he was starving.
He looked startled, glanced from side to side, then looked straight at me. "Thank you! Thank you! I've been trapped in there so long!" He grabbed my forearm with both hands and gave me a desperate look that showed he'd endured some kind of ordeal.
The tight grip on my arm felt odd. I can't describe it. Perhaps the best way to understand how it felt would be to imagine that weak little currents of electricity were flowing from my arm to his hands. He was gasping for breath and slumping down in a posture that suggested he was dying of starvation and exhaustion.
"Are you hungry?" I asked.
"Yes! I've never been so hungry before!" he said.
I'd eaten about half of my dinner, so I handed him the pot and my spoon. His hands trembled. He couldn't hold the spoon steady enough to eat, so he lifted the pot to his lips, then sipped the soup. I passed him my canteen after he finished eating.
He looked better after having some food and water, but he still looked awful. He was in such poor shape that I was sure he wouldn't be able to hike into town. I would need to contact authorities so they could rescue him. It was getting dark, so I knew he'd have to wait with me until morning.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"Daniel," he said. "I have a foreign name that nobody can pronounce, so I like being called Daniel. What's your name?"
"Jim. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
"I'm in your debt, Jim. I've been stuck inside that compass for a very long time before you freed me."
That sounded odd. "I didn't do anything," I said.
"You most certainly did, Jim. I'm guessing you dug it out of the dirt, did you not? I'm guessing you cleaned it up, did you not?"
"Well, yeah," I said.
"That was enough to do the trick," Daniel said. He stretched his arms, and I saw he was so skinny that he reminded me of those awful pictures of emaciated men held in camps for prisoners of war.
"Would you like more to eat?" I said.
"Not right now, Jim. It's going to take some time for my poor stomach to digest what you gave me," Daniel said. "I'm in pretty rough shape. I need to heal some before I can hike my way out of here."
"We can get a rescue team up here in the morning," I said. "You can spend the night in my tent, have a good breakfast, and we can get you to a hospital tomorrow."
"For reasons that are hard to explain, that won't help me, Jim. I need something else, and I need it immediately. Let me show you what I mean."
Daniel took my hand. I felt a tingling sensation that made me think that some kind of energy was flowing from me to Daniel.
"You feel that?" he asked.
"Yeah. What is it?" I said.
"There are no words to explain it," Daniel said. "Imagine that living things generate something like energy. I need that energy to survive. You've given me enough of your energy to save my life. B I need a lot more to heal. You don't have enough energy to fix me up. I need more."
Daniel looked frightened. Desperate. As he held my hand, the connection between us told me that he was a good person who needed my help.
"I'll do whatever I can," I said.
Daniel managed a weak smile. "I knew you'd say that, Jim.
"There are several ways to drum up the life energy I need to heal. One way is through emotional intimacy. I need for you to have sex with the young lady in that red tent over there."
I looked over and saw a very cute woman sitting in front of a nice three-season tent. She was leaning back on something and watching the stars come out.
"Daniel, there's no way she's going to agree to that," I said. "She's never met me. Never met you. She'll think I'm some kind of predator if I suggest it."
"I know all that, Jim. Believe me, I do. But I guarantee that you can persuade her to make love. By morning, both of you will be glad you did."
I was beginning to wonder if Daniel was crazy. He did resemble the homeless street people I've seen in Los Angeles. Many of them have serious psychiatric disorders.
"You're wondering if I'm nuts," Daniel said. "But you are open-minded enough that you'll listen to what I'm about to say. I need to explain that I am a different kind of guy, Jim. I can do a lot of things that no one else can do.
"I can tell you things about that charming young lady over there. Her name is Rita. She's making this hike because she's trying to decide what she wants to do with her life. She's here because she hopes this hike will help her make the decision. She happens to be in a mood that makes her wish she wasn't alone right now. She would welcome some attention from a nice, handsome man like yourself.
"I am also able to influence her state of mind some, so I can guarantee that she will be receptive to your romantic overtures. Once you start being intimate, it will generate enough emotional energy to restore my health."
The connection between us made me feel certain this was all true. "I don't understand how any of that is possible," I said.
"No doubt. I can show you what to do. Let's start like this. Jim, think of a number. Don't say it out loud. Just think it."
I thought of the number 9.