“I’m not dead yet.”
She grinned. “That’s what I was hoping. I’m Doctor Tripp. You had a close call. You lost a lot of blood.”
“How long have I been here?”
“You came in around one A.M. and . . . ,” she checked her watch, “it’s almost two.”
My head was foggy. “Two in the morning?”
“In the afternoon,” she said.
“What happened to my stomach?”
“You were stabbed. You had to be given a blood transfusion.”
“How many times was I stabbed?”
“You have two major wounds to your belly and one flesh wound in your side. Luckily they missed your liver, or you’d be in much worse shape. You also have a concussion.”
“That’s why my head hurts,” I said. “The big guy kept stomping on my head.”
“They worked you over pretty good. You really need to find a different set of friends to hang out with.”
“I’ll remember that.”
“The police would like to talk to you when you feel up to it. They’re just down the hall.”
“They’re here?”
“One of the young men who attacked you was shot. He’s in ICU.” She added, “Don’t worry, he’s not going anywhere. Except jail.” She turned to the woman next to me. “Are you his wife?”
“I’m a friend.”
I exhaled slowly. “How long will I be here?” I asked.
“A while. At least a few days. Maybe a week.”
“I need to get back out walking.”
Her brow furrowed. “Sorry, but you’ll have to put your plans on hold. You’re in no condition to walk. Your next stop is home.”
I didn’t respond.
“Where is home?” the woman asked.
“I’m homeless,” I said. I felt awkward saying it out loud.
“He can come home with me,” the woman said.
The doctor nodded. “Okay, we’ll deal with that when we get there. I’ll be back in a few hours to check up on you.” She touched my shoulder. “I’m glad to see you’re doing so well.” She walked out of the room.
I turned to the woman. “You don’t even know me.”
“I know you’re the kind of guy who stops to help a stranger. Besides, you didn’t know me when you came to my rescue. I’m just returning the favor.”
“How do you know I’m not a serial killer?”
“If you were, you wouldn’t have turned down the ride when I offered it to you.”
She had a point. “Probably not,” I said. I lay back and took a deep breath. This wasn’t a detour I had planned on. Of course, that pretty much summed up my life. “I don’t even know your name,” I said.
“Sorry.” She reached out and touched my hand. “It’s Annie. But everyone calls me Angel.”
EPILOGUE
When I was a boy, my second-grade schoolteacher read us a Brazilian folk tale called The Little Cow.
A Master of Wisdom was walking through the countryside with his apprentice when they came to a small, disheveled hovel on a meager piece of farmland. “See this poor family,” said the Master. “Go see if they will share with us their food.”
“But we have plenty,” said the apprentice.
“Do as I say.”
The obedient apprentice went to the home. The good farmer and his wife, surrounded by their seven children, came to the door. Their clothes were dirty and in tatters.
“Fair greetings,” said the apprentice. “My Master and I are sojourners and want for food. I’ve come to see if you have any to share.”
The farmer said, “We have little, but what we have we will share.” He walked away, then returned with a small piece of cheese and a crust of bread. “I am sorry, but we don’t have much.”
The apprentice did not want to take their food but did as he had been instructed. “Thank you. Your sacrifice is great.”
“Life is difficult,” the farmer said, “but we get by. And in spite of our poverty, we do have one great blessing.”
“What blessing is that?” asked the apprentice.
“We have a little cow. She provides us milk and cheese, which we eat or sell in the marketplace. It is not much but she provides enough for us to live on.”
The apprentice went back to his Master with the meager rations and reported what he had learned about the farmer’s plight. The Master of Wisdom said, “I am pleased to hear of their generosity, but I am greatly sorrowed by their circumstance. Before we leave this place, I have one more task for you.”
“Speak, Master.”
“Return to the hovel and bring back their cow.”
The apprentice did not know why, but he knew his Master to be merciful and wise, so he did as he was told. When he returned with the cow, he said to his Master, “I have done as you commanded. Now what is it that you would do with this cow?”
“See yonder cliffs? Take the cow to the highest crest and push her over.”
The apprentice was stunned. “But Master . . .”
“Do as I say.”
The apprentice sorrowfully obeyed. When he had completed his task, the Master and his apprentice went on their way.
Over the next years, the apprentice grew in mercy and wisdom. But every time he thought back on the visit to the poor farmer’s family, he felt a pang of guilt. One day he decided to go back to the farmer and apologize for what he had done. But when he arrived at the farm, the small hovel was gone. Instead there was a large, fenced villa.
“Oh, no,” he cried. “The poor family who was here was driven out by my evil deed.” Determined to learn what had become of the family, he went to the villa and pounded on its great door. The door was answered by a servant. “I would like to speak to the master of the house,” he said.
“As you wish,” said the servant. A moment later the apprentice was greeted by a smiling, well-dressed man.
“How may I serve you?” the wealthy man asked.
“Pardon me, sir, but could you tell me what has become of the family who once lived on this land but is no more?”
“I do not know what you speak of,” the man replied. “My family has lived on this land for three generations.”
The apprentice looked at him quizzically. “Many years ago I walked through this valley, where I met a farmer and his seven children. But they were very poor and lived in a small hovel.”
“Oh,” the man said smiling, “that was my family. But my children have all grown now and have their own estates.”
The apprentice was astonished. “But you are no longer poor. What happened?”
“God works in mysterious ways,” the man said, smiling. “We had this little cow who provided us with the slimmest of necessities, enough to survive but little more. We suffered but expected no more from life. Then, one day, our little cow wandered off and fell over a cliff. We knew that we would be ruined without her, so we did everything we could to survive. Only then did we discover that we had greater power and abilities than we possibly imagined and never would have found as long as we relied on that cow. What a great blessing from Heaven to have lost our little cow.”
This is what I’ve learned. We can spend our days bemoaning our losses, or we can grow from them. Ultimately the choice is ours. We can be victims of circumstance or masters of our own fate, but make no mistake, we cannot be both.
We are all on a walk. Perhaps not as literal as mine, but a walk all the same. I don’t know what lies ahead of me, but I have 3,000 miles to find out. There are people I’ve yet to meet who are waiting for my path to intersect with theirs, so they can complete their own journeys. I don’t know who or where they are, but I know for certain that they are waiting.
You don’t know me. I am no one famous or important. But, like you, I arrived here with a round-trip ticket. Someday I’ll go back to that place from whence I came. Back home where McKale waits.
When that time comes, I’ll look her in the eyes and tell her I kept the promise—that I chose to li
ve. She’ll smile and laugh then say, “I can’t believe you walked across the entire continent, you crazy old coot.”
That’s the way I imagine it will be. I could be wrong, but I don’t think so. Sometimes, in the shadowlands of my dreams, she whispers to me that she’s waiting. And in those moments I know she is near. As she said to me, “Death is like being in the next room.”
Perhaps it’s just wishful thinking. Maybe it’s love. Or maybe it’s something better. Maybe it’s hope.
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SIMON & SCHUSTER READING GROUP GUIDE
Introduction
Life is good for Alan Christoffersen. He has a beautiful wife, a great house, and is head of a growing company, but all at once, Alan’s life changes permanently and irrevocably—he loses his family and job. Now completely on his own, Alan must figure out how to pick up the pieces and move on. He starts with a simple step, quite literally: he decides to go for a walk across America.
Discussion Questions
1. The author writes in the style of a diary. Do you enjoy this style of writing? Did it help you relate to the characters? Did you think it made the story stronger or weaker?
2. At the outset, Alan’s life seems to be perfect. However, in the prologue he makes it clear things don’t work out as he imagined. How did this admission and foreshadowing affect your reading?
3. At the start of chapter three the author tells us “procrastination is the thief of dreams.” Is this a true statement? How does that philosophy relate to Alan’s life? Is it true in your life?
4. After McKale’s accident, Alan is so preoccupied with her that his company disappears under his feet. What was his reaction to the news? How do you think you would have handled these major events all at once?
5. Alan became overwhelmed by his grief, yet he never lost his love for McKale. What does that say about him as a person and husband? How did those feelings help him through his pain?
6. Alan says he and McKale were each other’s only friends. Did this focus only on each other end up having a detrimental effect or positive one? Why?
7. Alan’s father also lost his wife at an early age, and so had been through a similar situation. How did he support his son during the ordeal? Was it helpful?
8. The Christoffersens were terrible at handling money and quickly had all their belongings repossessed. How does this metaphor relate to what else Alan had lost?
9. Before almost killing himself, Alan heard a voice that said, “Life is not yours to take.” Who, if anyone, was speaking to him, and what did that message mean?
10. Alan wrote in his diary he believed deep in our hearts we all want to walk free. Do you think that’s true? Would people really prefer to be unchained from their belongings?
11. “A good walk in the woods is as effective as psychotherapy.” What is Alan trying to gain from his walk? A chance to get away from his problems or a long therapy session or both?
12. At what point did you begin to see a change in Alan? Who do you feel had the most profound effect on him during his walk?
13. When McKale visits Alan in a vision, what did she mean when she talked about Angel? What relationship did she see between him and the woman whom he helped on the highway? What relationship do you think Alan and Angel will have?
14. Where do you see the story headed? What other trials do you expect Alan to encounter on his way to Key West?
Enhance Your Book Club
1. Alan begins the story as a big shot ad executive. Create your own advertisement for The Walk and share it with the group. Explain how you created your design.
2. Alan spends much of the novel walking and thinking. Go for a walk with your group as you discuss the story.
3. Do you like to hike? Alan also became proficient in setting up tents and living off the land. Take a weekend trip to the woods or the mountains with your group to take in nature.
4. More than once Alan stopped in a restaurant claiming the best milkshakes in the world. What does it take to make the perfect shake? Create some with your group and see who can make the tastiest version.
A Conversation with Richard Paul Evans
1. What message are you trying to share with this novel?
I believe that we were meant to live as social creatures, to reach out and bless each other’s lives. To paraphrase what Dickens wrote, “. . . it’s required of all men to walk abroad among humanity.”
2. Why did you decide to write in diary form, rather than another style?
I began writing in diary form nearly fifteen years ago with my second novel Timepiece. I enjoy doing it, and it makes for a very readable, interesting book.
3. There is a spiritual side to the novel as Alan wrestles with his feelings toward God. Why did you choose to add this aspect to the story?
It is my experience that almost everyone who suffers a major loss, whether a professed believer in God or not, wonders about God and struggles with either blame or confusion. It was an issue I wanted to address head-on, especially with Ally, the waitress, who asks: Why do we blame God for the bad things but not the good?
4. Are you like Alan, who said that everyone has a deep desire to leave everything behind and just keep moving? Or do you prefer to stay close to home?
Seeing I’ve been in thirteen cities in the last three weeks, I suppose I’m more like Alan than I want to believe. But as I get older, I long to just be home.
5. Why did you choose to call out certain parts of Alan’s diary to start each chapter?
It’s a style I’ve used before in my writing and one that is very popular with my readers. As I write, the focus is on creating a story that flows quickly, so the reader becomes lost in the experience. More prosaic passages can stop that flow. I discovered by pulling them out and putting them at the beginning of a chapter heading, where the reader is already transitioning, makes for a more enjoyable read.
6. You write a very descriptive narrative about Washington State where Alan travels and seem to have a lot of knowledge of the area. Have you traveled there before?
My daughter Jenna and I rented a car and drove the route, carefully observing what he would see, where he would stop, and what he would eat. I initially tried to write this story in my den and realized it was impossible to do without being there. This means that over the next four years, Jenna and I will travel across America together, something I’m very excited about.
7. Alan contemplates an important question on his walk that is good for you as well: Who really does have the greatest milkshakes?
I honestly don’t know. I’m diabetic so I didn’t try any. My daughter liked Zeke’s.
8. The Walk is the first book in your planned series. What other adventures are in store for Alan on his trip?
You’ll have to wait and see.
9. You’ve written a number of bestsellers. What is it about writing that you enjoy? What is your process in creating stories that people enjoy so much?
I suppose I have an active imagination and writing allows me to live it out. I truly feel as if I’m a conduit for these stories, and there are times that I don’t even know what I’m writing until it’s poured through me and I can confront it on the page. People are looking for inspiration, and my books are sometimes the vehicles of what people are looking for. It’s my job, however, to make my books entertaining.
Richard Paul Evans is the #1 bestselling author of The Christmas Box. Each of his twenty novels has been a New York Times bestseller. There are more than fifteen million copies of his books in print worldwide, translated into more than twenty-four languages. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the American Mothers Book Award, the Romantic Times Best Women’s Novel o
f the Year Award, the German Audience Gold Award for Romance, two Religion Communicators Council Wilbur Awards, the Washington Times Humanitarian of the Century Award and the Volunteers of America National Empathy Award. He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with his wife, Keri, and their five children. You can learn more about Richard on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RPEfans, or visit his website, www.richardpaulevans.com.
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COVER DESIGN BY JACKIE SEOW
COVER PHOTOGRAPH © GETTY IMAGES
ALSO BY RICHARD PAUL EVANS
A Winter Dream
Lost December
Promise Me
The Christmas List
Grace
The Gift
Finding Noel
The Sunflower
A Perfect Day
The Last Promise
The Christmas Box Miracle
The Carousel
The Looking Glass
The Locket
The Letter
Timepiece
The Christmas Box
The Walk Series
Miles to Go
The Road to Grace
For Young Adults
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Michael Vey: Rise of the Elgen
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2010 by Richard Paul Evans
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