Crash Landing

   A Fiery Start

Hello! My name is Sam. I will be telling you a story that actually happened to me. Now let’s get right into it! I have a sister named Emma. We were both in 7th grade when all this craziness happened. We were going on a trip with our dad to Japan, and I was terrified. What if the plane crashes? What if the pilot and co-pilot fall asleep? But what happened was far worse than I could have ever imagined. Emma and I drove with our dad to Dulles Airport. We stopped at the United terminal, and got our boarding passes. Our plane was at gate D24, which was a very long walk from the entrance. Plus the walking distance, we had to go through security, weigh and drop off our bags, and even ride a shuttle to the other part of the airport! It took us 1 hour, but we finally got there. Emma and I played cards while we waited for our plane to get called. When it finally did, we got in our seats, and waited. 30 minutes later, an announcement started. The man said, “This is your co-pilot speaking. We are disappointed to inform you that there will be at least 1 hour of a wait due to engine problems. We will tune in back in later. Emma sighed in disappointment. “Back to playing cards I guess.” Emma moaned. “Actually Emma, I need to study for school,” I said, and with that I plopped a big math book on the tray table. Later, another announcement came on. “We are now cleared for takeoff.” Emma was always afraid of takeoff, just as I was afraid of crashing. When we got above the clouds, I fell asleep. I was tired, because it was only 10 AM. I was awoken by a loud crrrk! I looked out my window, as the engine caught ablaze.

Castaway

    “AAAAAAHHHHH!” I screamed in terror as I saw the fire. We were right above Honolulu. “Ladies and Gentlemen, do not panic, but one of the planes engines have caught fire-” He was interrupted by a screech of ripping metal. The metal under Emma and my feet broke. I was plummeting from 30,000 feet straight into the ocean. That seemed like my end. Everybody’s end. I was closing in on the water, and then everything went black. When I opened my eyes (which I surprisingly did at all), I has seaweed all over me. I had washed up on a remote island next to Honolulu. I wonder if Emma survived I thought. Then, I started to think about the more pressing matters. I was lost. I had lots of cuts, and they started stinging. My leg was hurting too. I touched it, and it was really squishy. I could feel all the way through it! It was probably broken. There were maggots crawling into my cuts, so I needed to get it treated. I watched a video, and it said to get maggots out, you have to pour oil into the cuts. I walked and walked through the jungle. I caught a brief glimpse of smoke ahead of me rising above the trees. I walked toward it. I saw some white. I walked towards it, very slowly. I smelled fire. It was the plane! Flakes of paint covered the ground. Just then, I had an idea. The survival kit was probably still in the plane. The only problem with getting it was that the plane was very shaky. So, I searched the ground, and I saw it right near the severed jet engine. Inside was a radio, small cans of noodles and pasta, and a very small microwave. Mmmmm I thought. I had food! I was so happy, that I didn’t even realize that I was backing into the very faint fire on the jet engine. But just before I caught fire, I realized that I was right next to it. So I stopped myself, but something distracted me. There seemed to be a smoke signal a small bit ahead. “Hello?” I shouted. No response. I grabbed a big, sharp stick, and moved toward the fire. I saw movement. Something jumped in front of me. I lunged my stick at the thing. “Owww!” A familiar voice screamed. “Emma?” I whispered. “Sam! Why did you poke me with that thing!?” Emma screamed in my ear. “You are alive?!” I asked. “Where is dad? Is he with you?” She started to sob. “Oh no…” I started to cry too. I tried to change the topic. “I forgot to pour oil in my cuts! I’ll be right back!” So I ran back to the plane, and looked for the gas tank. But there was one small problem. The whole plane was on fire. “FOREST FIRE!” I screamed. I ran back to where I found Emma, but she was gone. All I heard was a yelp, and silence. I saw paw and scratch marks on the ground. One horrifying thought had just occurred to me. Tigers. I ran toward the spot where I heard Emma scream, holding the sharp stick tightly in my grasp. A bit further on, I saw more paw marks, but this time blood. My heart skipped a beat. Was it Emma’s or the tiger’s? I didn’t want to find out. I ran, following the paw and scratch marks. A stick hit my face. I yelped. I could barely see. I kept on running, past a giant tarantula. But I heard a roar. I looked behind me, and I saw my demise waiting. A scratched up tiger. Emma must have hurt the tiger and gotten away. I ran and ran and ran. Just in front of me though, I saw a cliff. This time it’s definitely the end I thought. I chose the better fate: getting eaten alive by a tiger, or falling off a cliff. I chose falling off a cliff, and like life gave me a little push, I ran off the edge. My life flashed before my eyes, but before I thought I was going to die, I saw Emma. It was bad enough I was dying, but Emma had to see it! Just after I finished that thought, I hit the ground. 

Rescue

    Darkness. Was I dead? No, I couldn’t be. I felt immense pain, which was a feeling, so I had to be alive. I opened my eyes. I saw Emma. “He’s waking up!” She yelled. I heard a loud sound. Rrrrrrr! I couldn’t exactly place it, but I think I was in a rescue helicopter with Emma. I opened my eyes a bit more, and found out I was right. But then, something weird occured to me. I shouldn’t have survived the fall! Then, I looked down. It looked like the exact same place I fell off. The water I thought! I fell in the water!

Back at Home

    I looked at Emma. She was scratched up from head to toe. “Emma? Why are we in a helicopter?” I said weakly. Instead of Emma answering, the pilot did. “Hi! I am a helicopter pilot. My name is Olivia.” I answered back, “Cool. Can you bring us home?” “Sure thing! Your sister here waved me on, so I came. I now know that you two are survivors of the plane crash over there!” She pointed at the wreck. “I need to send these coordinates to the other people so they can check the black box!” It took several hours, but we finally arrived back at home. “Mom!” I shouted. She started crying tears of joy. “You are alive! Where is your dad?” She asked. Emma and I said, “He didn’t make it.” and she started crying sad tears this time. After that day, life pretty much went back to normal, besides two things. Number 1: Things were never the same without our dad. Number 2: Everybody at school kept on asking us questions about the crash. A couple days later, I heard Emma talking to her friends about how she survived the crash, and I had never asked her. I leaned in closer. “So the plane started falling really fast, so I jumped into a lake near the island. I barely survived the fall.” Emma explained. That is where my sad and adventurous story ends.