Water,
water was everywhere! It choked me, salty, I could tell. It’s the sea. I
blinked hard, but the more frequently I did so, the more intense my eyes ached.
There was a vision, when I thought that hope and luck were not on my side
anymore- I was poised between life and death. My memories slowly flashed in my
mind like a kaleidoscope… my family, my friends, my job, my life… I thought I
was to lose them all. Now that I realized that life could be so fragile and
short. My heart beat in a chaotic rhythm. I seemed to have lost everything I
had in a blink of an eye.
Debris of the plane floated around me, the
sun was setting down faster than ever, the water turned cool as darkness crept
over the azure daylight. I waded my fatigue arms across the vast, deep ocean,
trying to keep myself afloat. Smoke and hazardous debris surrounded me. I
prayed that none of them would explode, I had cheated death once, and I
wouldn’t dare hope for a second attempt. I grabbed onto a large brown piece of
floating debris which looked like a wooden board. My body was way too exhausted
to swim across the endless blue. My eyes, still allergically blazed in pain,
slowly closed as I blacked out into a long sleep.
I didn’t know how long I’d been out. Bright
sunshine flashed into my eyes, sight of coconut trees and a coast of creamy
sand made me dizzy. I had been pushed ashore by the tides. “Where am I?” I
asked myself with a flicker of disbelief, feeling so lost, all I could think of
was that I wanted to go home. My energy was drained and my head ached
unrelentingly. I tried to get onto my feet. My phone and watch were no longer
with me, my clothing seemed like they had been nibbled by stray dogs. I looked
around, ahead was a forest of coconuts trees while behind was nothing but
water. I wondered what had really happened. A moment ago, I was on my flight
back to Singapore from a business trip to Surabaya, but a moment later an
ear-splitting explosion was heard, everything was on fire, I fell off my seat,
lost consciousness and woke up on a strange island. It all seemed such
inconceivable to me, nothing made sense.
I found patches of red rash with blisters on
my body, where the skin stung whenever I touched them-- burns. I needed fresh
water and food. Despite dealing with the gnawing pangs of hunger and waves of
physical pain, I bottled up my strength to explore the area. The isle was
surprisingly smaller than how it looked, lonely and deserted as it seemed,
lying in a corner of the ocean. I struggled to a few fallen coconuts, only to
find them too hard and impossible to be cracked open. I cried in anguish as
hopelessness and helplessness gushed over me, I was sure I could not survive at
this rate. I needed to hunt, there were fish available in the sea, fortunately,
which I would consider as a good sign.
Nightfall crept in like a sheet of darkness
as it covered the Earth. The atmosphere turned unexpectedly cold, even the fire
I built could not provide me enough warmth. How I hoped the cotton blanket at
home was with me, I sneezed and my whole body shook chillingly. The fish I ate
was badly grilled, well you wouldn’t want to know how I caught them.
Uncountable questions boggled my mind. What was the date? The time? The place?
They had all wretchedly confused me, causing my head to ache even more. How was
my family? They must have heard about the crash. They must have felt so worried
about me. The surrounding was resonant with the orchestra of insects and the
clear sound of waves hitting the shore—what a petrifying sensation. My eyelids became
heavier as I crouched on a mat of dried leaves. I only prayed that there would
be no ferocious animals approaching me.
The second day on the island was sorrowful. A
few of my blisters had burst, great pain stroke me like a huge wave of
tsunami. The red rashes had not vanished yet, every touch on these parts was a
torture as swelling and tenderness soon paid their presence on me. There was no
sign of any rescue team, not a plane above my head, nor was a fisherman’s boat
in sight. Debris of the airplane was sent up to the shore one by one, the
originally flawless beach now looked like a hoarder’s chest. Despite getting to
open my eyes was to my surprise because I learnt that I was still alive, the
day couldn’t be worse. There was only appalling food—“grilled fish”, with
plenty of raw parts, well I should have learnt some basic culinary skills from
my mother—and no water. I didn’t think I could survive any longer. The weather
was sultry and only the shadows of the coconut trees were offering me the
protection from getting heat exhaustion.
Time
passed faster than I thought on the island, it was the time I should be
sleeping, but my body ached as if an inferno was cast on me, I couldn’t even
shut my eyes. I watched the dawn break before me. The sun crawled up from the
horizon and lit up my sight. The view was undeniably awe-inspiring though. A
huzzling sound broke the morning silence. It was not the waves, nor the waving
trees. A silver helicopter flew passed and made a U-turn in the air. It came
back for me. The pilot must have spotted the debris on the sand. Hope gleamed
in my eyes. I cared nothing about the pain I felt and ran out with my hands
flailing aloft hysterically, trying to seek as much attention as I could.
A rope ladder was thrown off the helicopter,
I grabbed it and started climbing. The aircraft was part of the national rescue
team. I learn that it had been almost seven days since the plane crash, which
meant I had been out for about four days before gaining consciousness on the
isle. No survivors were found until they saw me. The team had not managed to
find the black box so the search operation was still on. I was dumbfounded as I
listened to them with my mouth agape. Doubt and confusion flooded my mind once
again, but all I allowed myself to think of was to go home to my family.
By,
Euan Thum,
Collaborated with,
Low Li Xin.
Low Li Xin.
Rated 5 out of 5.
Comments
Post a Comment