Stranded

Chapter 1: The Crash

“In my opinion, they should have all been killed. But he didn’t seem to feel the same way. In the end, I divorced him. A few years later, his damn dogs ended up killing him. I went to his funeral just to tell the corpse that I told him so.” The lady beside keeps babbling on and on, despite my obvious discomfort. Everytime I look away, she puts her hand on mine to make me face her. I fake a few yawns, hinting to her that I don’t want to talk but she continues. “Do you think I was right? Do you think he should have killed those damn dogs?” I nod hesitantly, making her smile. She pats my hand then starts another story. I put my headphones on and hope that she gets the hint. Some people just don’t understand the term ‘silence is golden’.

A few minutes later, one of the flight attendants comes by and leans down to speak to me. “Would you like any refreshments Miss?” Her Australian accent makes her hard to understand but I manage to decipher it. I shake my head and lean my head back on the head rest. Ten hours to Morocco from Australia. I just want to get home. Is all this stress really necessary? After being in Australia for three months, going anywhere else just seems bizarre. I love Michigan but I’ve fallen in love with Australia. When I agreed to live with my friend for a few months, I didn’t think I’d get that attached. Turns out I completely underestimated the effect Australia has on people.

I look out of the window to my left, trying not to let the old woman think I’m looking at her. The stunningly blue ocean below enchants me just as it has for the past five months. The ripples of the waves play tricks on my mind as I gaze down at them. “How long were you in Australia for?” The old woman asks me, her voice no where near annoying as the last time she spoke. “I was there for five months.” She grins at me and pats my hand. “Do you want to go back?” She asks, her face becoming far gentler and kinder. I nod and lean back in my seat. “I miss my home in Michigan. But I think that when I get home, I’ll miss Australia far more.” She nods in agreement and giggles a bit. “So will I my dear, so will I.”
***
A few hours later, I wake up with the turbulence rocking me side to side. The old woman next to me seems extremely frightened. “It’s alright. It’s just a bit of turbulence.” I pat her leg and unbuckle my seatbelt. I walk to the back of the plane o use the restroom. A flight attendant rushes past me, a frantic look on her face. She tries to maintain a pleasant facade but I can see the terror in her eyes. I push all the horrible thoughts and scenarios to the back of my mind and continue moving. I groan when I see that the bathroom is occupied. I stand to the side against the wall and wait as patiently as I can for the passenger in the bathroom to finish.

All of the sudden, the plane shakes violently, causing me to lose my balance and fall over. A few passengers shriek while others grip their seats tightly. I look out the window near me and see a cloud of smoke. It’s coming from one of the engines. I begin to panic but try to calm myself down. The screams of the other passengers don’t help me much, but I keep a somewhat level head. I find an empty seat and plant myself in it. I quickly fasten my seatbelt and grip the armrests on either side of me. I look at the mortified faces of the passengers and cringe a bit. Millions of thoughts and emotions swim through my head. Am I going to die? Am I going to live? What will this do to my parents? How many of us are on this plane? Where will we land?

The rocking gets worse by the second. I try to keep myself still but I still jerk back and forth. I look out of the window and see the ocean getting closer and closer. A loud explosion tears my eyes from the window and to the front of the plane. To my horror, it’s no longer there. I see a glimpse of white and silver as it spirals away from the rest of the plane. The gaping hole at the front of the plane sends a blast of wind toward me, making my head hit the wall, sending me into a dark abyss.
***
I wake up to the sound of pained shrieks. When I open my eyes, the light nearly blinds me. I see dozens of tropical trees but they are upside down. I look down at my body and see that I too, am upside down. I assess my surroundings, trying not to lose my head. Only nine rows of seats surround me. It seems as if I’m in the back part of the plane. My eyes drift from the seats to the ground, which used to be the ceiling. The snacks I had on the plane make their way from my stomach to my mouth when I see the corpse of an old man lying below me. His leg is snapped in half and a piece of glass sticks out of his head.

I grab onto my armrest with one hand and undo my seatbelt with the other. I drop to the ground and cry out in pain when I land. I hadn’t noticed the pain in my legs before I dropped. All the blood rushes away from my head, causing me to stumble over. I land hard on my knees and cry out, the impact sending shooting pain up through my legs. After a few moments, I manage to pull myself up and haul myself out of the back part of the plane.

I step down from the metal floor onto a bed of soft golden sand. My feet shift in the sand as I take a few steps forward. My eyes only take a few seconds to adjust to the bright light of the sun. I look around me and nearly faint at the sight of it. Bits and pieces of the plane are scattered across the beach. Five corpses lay strewn in different places around the shore. One of the corpses is burnt on half of its body. At the sight of the peeling, charred flesh, I bend over and vomit violently.

Two minutes later when all the vomit is gone, I follow the screams and find about three dozen people run frantically around the beach. Someone sees me and sprints to me, arms open wide. “Oh thank god! Are you alright?” The man looks like he’s in his late fifties. He’s dressed in a black suit and tie, both now ripped and covered in blood that drips from his head. I nod my head and allow him to guide me to the others. My bruises and minor gashes look like a bee sting compared to others. One woman has a shard of glass stuck in her leg.

I tear my eyes away from the gut-wrenching scene and walk further from the crowd. “Miss! Can you come back? We need to stay together!” A woman a few years older than me comes jogging up to me. She takes me by the hand and leads me back carefully. As I’m forced to look at the appalling injuries and images, all the sound around me disappears. The screams fade and so does the sound of the waves. Not long after my hearing goes away, so does my sight. It flares red before disappearing completely.