“Hey, do you want to use the restrooms?” The voice of the woman in the passenger seat woke me up and, upon opening my eyes, I noticed that the pickup had stopped at a gas station.

I had been sleeping so soundly that I didn’t know how much time had passed. The light of the gas station was so bright that I barely could open my eyes.

“Yes, thank you, I do,” I replied, jumping down from the cargo bay and heading for the restrooms. I washed my face and drank some water from the tap because I was very thirsty. In fact, I was very hungry too, but I didn’t have any money on me, so I drank some more water to ease my hunger. When I looked up and saw my face in the mirror, I almost didn’t recognise myself. With my clothes and scruffy beard, most people would have probably taken me for a tribesman. However, I couldn’t do anything about my appearance until I arrived home.

When I returned to the pickup, I experienced a moment of panic when I didn’t see it parked in the same spot as before. But when I looked around, I saw that the driver had moved it to the parking area. So, I went there quickly to ensure that they wouldn’t leave without me.

“Daddy told me to bring you this,” the little girl said, standing next to the pickup with her hands stretched out to give me a bag of sausages and a bottle of water.

“Daddy said you drank water from the tap. Are you hungry?” she asked bluntly, as only children do.

I hadn’t even noticed that her father had seen me in the restroom.

“Yes, thanks a lot,” I replied gratefully. I felt embarrassed, but because I was so hungry, I reached out and took the bag of sausages and the water without hesitation.

I sat in the pickup cargo bed and started wolfing down the sausages while the others were still in the convenience store. I saw the driver standing in front of the store and my first instinct was to go and thank him for buying me food, but then I was afraid he might feel embarrassed because of the way I was dressed. So, I loitered around where I was and waited for them. A few minutes later they all came walking back to the pickup.

“How are you? Only three more hours and we should arrive in Bangkok,” the man said.

“Good, and thanks a lot for the food and water,” I replied.

“Hmm, from the way you talk, you don’t sound like a tribesman. Where are you really from?” the man asked.

“Well, I’m from Bangkok,” I answered.

“Ah! So, where have you been, and why did you walk alone in the forest?” the woman asked me.

“Well, I …” I hesitated, pondering over my answer.

“I got lost,” I replied, giving the most reasonable answer I could think of.

“And why are you wearing these clothes? I thought you were a tribesman,” the woman asked, and it started to feel like an interrogation.

“I, erm …” I racked my brain to think of a plausible explanation. If I told them the truth, they would surely believe that I was insane.

“I bought these clothes in the village I was visiting. I thought they were nice, so I decided to wear them,” I said spontaneously, as that was the only thing I could come up with at that moment.

“Ah! I see,” said the woman, sounding not very convinced.

I tried to cut the conversation short so that I wouldn’t have to invent more explanations.

“But why did you …” the woman started to ask, but thankfully she was interrupted by the man who said impatiently: “Now let’s stop chatting, we still have a long way ahead of us, and if we don’t get going now, we’ll arrive at our destination very late.”

“Yes, you’re right,” I hurriedly agreed with him.

I climbed back into the cargo bay, while they got into the truck and we continued our journey. I couldn’t go back to sleep, partly because of the bright light of the highway, and also because I was thinking about everything that had happened to me.

As we travelled along the highway, my mind played a number of flashback scenes, like in a movie, of events that had taken place over the past week. Before the ride, I had been comfortable with everything that I had experienced, but now I suddenly felt sad and somewhat depressed. The experiences of the past seven days had changed my attitude, my way of thinking and my perspective completely, and I hadn’t yet concluded the next steps to proceed with my life now.

“Don’t forget the promise you have made,” a familiar voice rose up in my mind.

“Is this the voice of God?” I heard myself ask out aloud.

“Yes,” replied the voice in my head.

“How can I be sure that this is Your voice, and not a voice that I’m just imagining?” I queried.

“If you’re certain that the voice you’re hearing isn’t a result of your emotions, you can be sure that it’s My voice,” it answered.

“I certainly won’t forget the promise I made,” I stressed the importance of keeping my word. Anyone who would have seen me in this moment would think that I was crazy, speaking to myself.

“Actually, I do have a question: You have requested me to spread the truth to everyone, but You could actually do that Yourself since You can communicate with everyone telepathically. Why do You need me to do that instead?” I asked.

“I’m always communicating with everyone, but no one can hear me except you. I can’t speak to those who don’t hear me,” the voice answered.

“Do you think they will believe me?” I asked doubtfully. “Just look at me now.”

“I know, I know,” the voice replied. “All my representatives in the past had one thing in common, and that is humbleness. A person who is arrogant and self-important wouldn’t be able to carry out this mission.”