Will of Man - Part One

by William Scanlan

  WILL OF MAN

  part one

  By

  William Scanlan

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED FOR WILLIAM SCANLAN

  This publication is property of William Scanlan. All rights reserved for William Scanlan. Copyright 2013.

  No part of this book shall be copied, reproduced, distributed, or transmitted without permission.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Other books by William Scanlan found at Amazon.com

  Tyler’s Journal Entry: 452

  Date: October 4th

  Weather: Cool, cloudy, slightly windy

  Miles to go: 620

  Tomorrow is the day I end this showdown with my five "friends." For three days I've tried crossing this river. For three days they've stalked me and blocked my passage across.

  I sit here across from them and the only thing separating us is fifty yards of slow moving water. They just sit on their side of the river, staring at me.

  I'm tired of waiting. Part of me wishes they would make a move so I don't have to. But that's alright; I've practiced MY move over and over. And tomorrow I will make it. Tomorrow if all goes to plan, there will be five corpses floating down stream and I will be across the river continuing on my way to find my family.

  Dad always said, have a plan A and back it with a plan B. Well I have my plan A, a plan B, and a plan C if needed.

  I've watched them as they they've watched me. I count five all together. The big one seems to be the Alpha. I'm expecting to deal with him last. I suspect the others will come for me first. I'll need to coax them in one at a time or least keep them separated enough that I can take each one out quickly and then move on to the next.

  From what I know of this type; is that they are the best at working as a team. They will channel me in to where they want me, but I won't allow that. They will try to flank me from the sides, which I hope they try. They will be perfectly synchronized when closing in. But I will bust a crack in their circle of death and I will take them out one-by-one.

  They may think they have me trapped in their world, but they will be in mine. The water has been my world since I was little, and I will make them pay for entering it. By getting them to come into the water, I will take away their speed and strength and give myself the advantage I need.

  Tomorrow, when I'm ready, they will all die.

  Tyler’s Journal Entry: 1

  Date: September 6

  Day: MONDAY

  Weather: COOL/WINDY/CLOUDY

  Training: 2 mile fartlek, 12 mile biking (155 average heart rate)

  Well, this is the first of many entries I assume that I will make in this journal. My English teacher wants us to keep a journal throughout the school year. He says we can write about anything we want. I’m choosing to use it as a way to keep track of my triathlon training. I like to see my progress and I like to keep track of what works and what doesn’t

  School is going well. I’ve maintained my mediocre status of being mostly invisible to the other students. But that’s OK, I have my close friends and they’re all I need. No girlfriend’s’ yet. But my day of studliness is coming. Ha.

  My favorite class is math. Mr. Stoll is cool (as long as you don’t cause trouble). I enjoy algebra. Math comes easy to me. Kendrick’s in my class and so is Jax. It’s an advanced class.

  My least favorite class is healthy lifestyles. Mrs. K is cool (reminds me of a hippie from the 60’s), but all we do is walk around the outside of the school for forty-five minutes. I’m used to running five miles a day for triathlon training, so this walking stuff seems like a waste to me.

  Not to complain, but I’d rather be running. Most of the kids use this time to goof off or gossip. I guess it’s an easy A though. It would be pretty embarrassing to flunk a class where all you have to do is walk around the outside of the school.

  Jax has been hanging with the "jocks" more and more. He rarely has lunch with me anymore or hangs out with me in the halls. I don’t get it. Jax doesn’t have an athletic bone in his body. I watch him playing basketball with the jocks and he looks silly!

  Now I know I’m no jock either. I have the hand-eye coordination of a three year old and the fast twitch muscles of an eighty year old man. Fortunately for me, I have good endurance. I can go forever.

  Maybe I’m just being jealous. I feel like I’m losing him as a friend. Maybe I should ask him to hang out more after school. We’ll see.

  Carlos is still good ole Carlos. He’s typically clueless to so-called “social standings.” I guess that’s why I like him so much. He doesn’t care who you are as long as you’re nice. That’s cool. We spend most our time goofing around and playing video games.

  Tyler’s Journal Entry: 5

  Date: September 11

  Day: Saturday

  Weather: Cool, Cloudy, slightly rainy

  Training: RACE DAY

  I raced today in Tawas. This race was good and bad. The bad was the swim, since it was in Lake Huron near the Tawas pier. It's always freezing with huge waves.

  This is the only race I do in the Great Lakes and it's takes a lot of concentration in regards to my breathing. I have to breathe away from the direction of the waves; otherwise I get a mouth full of water. So it's all about timing.

  The swim buoys always get pushed out into deeper water due to the waves and the water depth is way over my head. It's very scary and no one ever seems prepared for the conditions - Including me.

  I was actually scared for my life during this one. Three people dropped from the race because of the swim conditions. Even with my wetsuit, I found myself freezing throughout the swim. Usually a swimmer can catch their breath once their body acclimates to the temperature. But with the freezing water in Tawas Bay, I could never catch mine. I was in panic mode throughout the entire swim. Needless to say, I was very happy to finish the swim phase.

  The good parts were the bike and the run. The bike was on smooth roads that led out into the country. I felt strong and was able to pass many bikers. It was awesome!

  The run went just as well. I was a bit tired from pushing so hard during the bike and it took about a quarter mile to get my legs moving properly. Once I felt my strength return, I drafted another strong racer throughout the run. Stayed right on his heals throughout. As we neared the finish, with about 50 meters to go, I pushed past him and over took him.

  I ended up with a first in my age group (of 33) and third overall (of 255). It was one of my best races yet. Fortunately the swim proved just as hard for everyone else and the rest of the race went perfect for me. Can't wait for the next race!

  Here's my schedule and results to date (I’m always the youngest, but my dad seems to be able to get me into the more adult races):

  Race Schedule

  January 23 Winter Wolf 15 miles (1:57)

  March 6 March Madness (1st solo, 4th overall)

  March 21 MAC Indoor tri at the MAC (2nd age)

  March 28 MARCH MADNESS AR (2nd)

  April 25 Steele Case Duathlon (5th)

  April 26 SPRING FURY (5th))

  May 22 Okemos Triathlon (1st place age!)

  May 23 Xterra Last Stand (4th age)

  June 6 Hawk Island Triathlon (9th of 75)

  July 11 Waterloo Duathlon (2nd 0f 24)

  July 17-18 Midland Triathlon (4th 0f 50)

  July 23 Wells Fargo Triathlon (1st age)

  July 25 Howell Crosstown Triathlon (11th)

  August 18 T-Rex Mid-Week Triathlon (3rd)

  August 21 Summer Quest 4 hour (1st)

  August 28 Lansing Legislature (1st age!)

  September 11 Tawas Olympic Distance (
1st)

  September 19 Cedar Point Olympic Distance

  October 23 Breakout 24 hr

  Dec 4 December Chill

  Tyler’s Journal Entry: 12

  Date: October 1

  Day: Friday

  Weather: Sunny, warm

  Training: Doesn’t matter – I got suspended from school today.

  TODAY SUCKED! I got suspended from school for three days. This is what happened; throughout the day Glenn Diceman had been tormenting me. He’s a huge kid that lives down the street from me. I used to play with him when we were kids and he used to be really nice. Well, recently he made the football team and his whole personality changed. He’s taken on that stereotypical football “jock” persona and has become a really arrogant jerk.

  So today in social studies, he decides to sit next to me. I said hi and asked him how football was going. He pulls himself up close to me and get’s in my face and says he’s going to beat me up. I’m not one to back down from anyone, so I get in his space and tell him to go for it.

  Mostly I was posturing for show, because I thought he was mostly joking. I didn’t think he was serious. But he was and now I had to deal with him. My town is small and I know how word gets around. I knew if I back down from him at all, I will be seen as weak and then I will have a whole team of Glenn’s to deal with.

  So now I’m on the defense all day. I was looking over my shoulder, down the halls, listening for his voice, etc. I was kind of getting scared as the day went on, but I wasn’t going to show it. And besides, part of me really didn’t think he was going to do anything since we were kind of friends not too long ago.

  But at the end of fourth hour I was walking down the hall when all of a sudden BAM! Glenn punches me in the arm from behind and it hurt. I turned around and there he was with this big dumb grin on his face being patted on the back by his idiot teammates.

  I was ready there and then, but just as I was about to lunge at him, I saw a teacher and realized how stupid this whole thing was.

  I looked at him and quietly said “You better knock it off, or you and I are going to have a problem.” I stared him in the eyes and didn’t look away till he did. Dad told me how he used to stare down his opponents’ when he was a boxer.

  He said the first to look away or blink was the most scared. So I stared him down till he looked away. I don’t know if he was scared or not. But his teammates pulled him away and he walked on by.

  But then came last period gym class. I hadn’t been thinking about Glenn at all since I was playing basketball with Kendrick and Jax. Then out of the blue BAM! Someone punched me hard in the back of the arm again and I knew who it was.

  I turned around, with basketball in hand, and threw it right in his face as hard as I could. It hit him hard, but he barely flinched. He grabbed me by throat with one hand and squeezed. As he squeezed my neck with one hand he started to cock back with his other.

  He took a swing and I ducked. Unbeknownst to each of us, we were standing in a puddle of water leaking from a nearby drinking fountain. We both slipped and fell simultaneously. Glenn hit his head on the drinking fountain with a loud twang and was knocked out completely. I fell backward as my arm swung back and hit the wall really hard. I fell on top of Glenn’s head adding yet another bang to his empty melon.

  I looked at Glenn who was already starting to swell up around his forehead and nose. My knuckles were bleeding from scraping the wall.

  Poor Glenn lost control of his bowels and pooped his pants (I guess that happens sometimes when people are knocked unconscious). The smell was instant and horrible.

  Everything happened so fast. No one had seen what happened until it was over. Students ran over yelling fight, fight, fight! But soon stopped and grabbed their nose from the rancid odor emanating from Glenn’s behind.

  I stood up holding my hand. Everyone looked at me and assumed I had knocked Glenn out. Before I could say anything, someone yelled out that I had just kicked Glenn’s butt. Poor Glenn was still lying there unconscious snoring loudly, with a nasty load in his pants.

  I looked around at my classmates who were looking at me like I was some crazy psycho. I knew what really happened and that I never really hurt Glenn. That moron did it to himself. But I still felt ashamed for the way people were reacting to me.

  We had a sub that day who was no bigger than a little kid. She ran to the hall and grabbed another male teacher who grabbed me and hauled me to the office. I’d never been in trouble before and I felt horrible.

  The weird thing was that when I got to the office the secretary seemed to be more worried about my well being than Glenn’s. She gave me an icepack for my hand and pulled a chair around for me to sit on.

  Poor Glenn had to sit out in the hallway on the floor and wait. Kids were walking by him plugging their nose and scrambling quickly away from him. He also thinks I knocked him out. He actually looks scared of me.

  I feel bad for Glenn and I don’t like fooling people, but this whole ordeal may benefit me. I guess I’m not really lying; I’m just not going to divulge the truth.

  When I got home, I had to tell my dad what had happened and that I got suspended. For some reason, I didn’t tell him the truth, that I really didn’t hit Glenn. I just said I got in a fight at school and now I’m suspended.

  And this is the weirdest part; when I told Dad, I expected to get in big trouble, but the only thing he asked is if I’d won. I told him yes, he nodded and then went about his business. And that was it.

  Tyler’s Journal Entry: 13

  Date: October 3

  Day: Saturday

  Weather: Light drizzle and cold.

  Training: 13 miles trail run (155 average heart rate)

  Dad may not have made a big deal about yesterday, but Mom wasn’t so forgiving. I’m grounded for two weeks, with no electronics. Dad said it’s ok for me to continue my training. He knows about running and how it can be therapeutic.

  I agree. Running is a release and it gave me a lot of time to think about how things went down, how I reacted, and whether it was appropriate. Should I have told the truth? To be honest; I don’t think the teachers would have believed me. As far as the other kids - let them believe what they want.

  I feel bad, but I’m not sure if I feel wrong. I did not ask for Glenn to take a swing at me. I don’t feel I could have ignored him forever and I sure as heck wasn’t going to let him beat me up. I guess it was him or me. Luckily I was on the winning side of the whole ordeal.

  Tyler’s Journal Entry: 14

  Date: October 4

  Day: Monday

  Weather: Sunny but cold.

  Training: Rest day

  So my sentence has begun. It’s my first day of suspension and I don’t know what to do with myself. Mom made a list of things for me to do and not to do. I’m going to stick to them.

  I wish I hadn’t done such a long run Saturday (thirteen miles) and needed this rest day (runners take “rest days,” so their muscles can recover). Because now I have nothing to do. Training helps pass the time when I have nothing else to do.

  The electricity went out today for around an hour. I didn’t realize how boring it is around here with no electronics like T.V. So I decided to tune my bike and organize my bedroom (thought that would make Mom happy). I read a couple running magazines and actually took a nap (I usually hate taking naps).

  I hadn’t thought much about the fight until Carlos stopped by to fill me in on all the gossip going on around school. Apparently Glenn’s head was so swollen he had to go to the hospital. The doctor told him no football for a week. His head was so swollen, that he couldn’t put his helmet on.

  He’s the team’s only center and they had to have someone else fill in for Friday’s game. They lost and word is the team is blaming me.

  The word is, that they are going to get back at me for beating up Glenn and it’s all going down when I return to school on Thursday. It’s not going to be the whole team, but three of them and they are going to m
ess me up good.

  It worries me, but I’m not backing down. I may not have had to actually fight Glenn, and I don’t think all three are going to slip on a puddle of water and knock themselves out. So I better prepare myself.

  I made a punching bag out of my dad’s old sea bag he got when he was in the Navy. I filled half with sand and the other half with old clothes from the attic. I hung it in the back yard from a tree and started pounding away at it.

  I imagined the sea bag was each of the three that were going to gang up on me. I made a plan of attack which involved going hard and fast. I’m going to strike them hard and not let up. They will not have a chance to react. They will not have a chance to throw a punch. They will not have a chance to grab a hold of me. I will dominate and in the end I will be the only one standing.

  …. Who am I kidding? I’m going to get slaughtered. But at least I’ll go in with a plan and hopefully I’ll go down fighting. Being a kid sucks. I didn’t ask for this. Why are they blaming me? Glenn is the one who pushed this. I just stood up for myself.