• Our plane crashed. Went down in flames. It all happened so fast I didn’t know what to do. There was a flashing red light reading warning. The captain telling us over the intercom to not panic and how everything was fine. Then the engines cut off...literally. They just fell as if someone cut them off. The world went by in a flash as people and miscellaneous items hit the roof. I sat in my chair, clenching my armrest until my knuckles turned white. My eyes squeezed shut but it didn’t help. I could here shrieks of panic and the wailing of babies and small children. The people next to me were praying, and I soon found myself praying for a miracle. That moment lasted a lifetime. Sitting there, waiting for death. Knowing that it was coming at us all at speeds over 100 miles and hour. Silence seemed to hit, for a darkness began to overcome me as I felt what I though as death approaching, instantly as the plane hit the island. Everything then went black.
    I woke up to the sound of waves reaching for my toes, almost there, but not quite. The white foam withdrew as I once again shut my eyes, hoping to wake up from this dream, back on the plane that my parents had placed me on that morning. I was flying to Europe to visit some relatives over the summer. My parents waved me off from the airport hiding tears from me as I was going on my first plane ride alone. But they still let me go. Not knowing the repercussions of their actions. How the plane was going to crash-No! I thought-it is all just a dream. I will wake up flying over the ocean to find myself alive and amongst other people. I became lost in my thought. I was snapped out of my trance as a huge wave came crashing onto the shore, soaking me to the bone. I jumped up startled, ready to fight at a moments notice. And then I saw it...about 120 yards from where I stood, lay our plane. The one that crashed. There it was in pieces. Taunting me. Telling me that this is reality. And yet, I was uninjured, say for the bruises I felt beginning to form, and the various scratches here and there, I was fine.
    My first thought was to find the other survivors. I went up to the first person only to find a bloody mess of shredded clothes and skin. It was to much for me to bear and I turned away, moisture blurring my vision. But I couldn’t let myself succumb to the tears. I had to keep looking for survivors. At this moment I heard a sound from behind me and turned around to face a small girl slowly sitting up, not quite realizing where she was or what happened. I ran over to her side quickly and fell to my knees beside her. Now I began to cry, burying my face in my hands, realizing I was not alone. The warmth of two small arms encircled me, comforting me. I looked down to see a pair of big brown eyes looking back up at me. “It’ll be okay mama.” The sweet voice came and I then hugged her back, overwhelmed by the innocence of this little girl. We were soon joined by two others. Another girl as well as a boy. Both seemed to be okay, except for the bruises and scratches. Soon after, it was decided to walk around and look for ay other survivors. The scene of utter destruction and death was hard to bear, but bear it we did. In the end, two more survivors were found, both guys. Every other person on the plane had died. And they were quickly being swallowed by the now reddish-pink waves.
    As and act of survival, clothing, pocketknives, food, rope, blankets, pillows, lighters, anything and everything that seemed useful and not destroyed we took. Stole from dead men and women. But it was to survive. I had to survive because I clung to life as it was my everything. It was all I had now, my last hope.