The Sole Survivor (Version 2.0)

Water, water was everywhere! It choked me, salty. It was the sea. I blinked hard, but the more I did so, the more intensely my eyes ached. I was poised between life and death. My memories flooded 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.

  The sun was setting down faster than ever and the water turned cool. I tried to keep myself afloat as smoke and hazardous debris surrounded me. I prayed that none of them would explode. I had cheated death once, and I would not dare hope for a second miracle. I grabbed a large brown piece of floating debris which looked like a wooden board. With the last bit of strength left in me, I climbed onto it. My eyes, still blazing with pain, slowly closed as I blacked out.

  I did not know how long I’d been out. Bright sunshine flashed into my eyes. The sight of coconut trees and a beach of creamy sand made me dizzy. I had been washed ashore by the tide. “Where am I?” I asked myself in disbelief. Feeling lost, all I could think of was that I wanted to go home. I felt drained of energy and my head ached unrelentingly. I tried to get onto my feet. My phone and watch were no longer with me; my clothes looked like they had been gnawed by stray dogs. I looked around and saw nothing but coconuts trees lining the beach. I wondered what had really happened. I recalled that I was on my flight back to Singapore from a business trip to Surabaya when there was an ear-splitting explosion and everything was on fire. I fell off my seat, lost consciousness and woke up on a strange island. It all seemed inconceivable to me; nothing made sense.

  I found that my body was covered in rash, which 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 gathered up my strength to explore the area. The isle was surprisingly smaller than I had thought, lonely and deserted 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 realized I had to hunt and fortunately there were fish available in the sea.

  Nightfall crept in like a sheet of darkness as it covered the Earth. The air turned unexpectedly cold, even the fire I built could not provide me enough warmth. How I wished the cotton blanket at home was with me, I sneezed and my whole body shook. The fish I ate was badly grilled, well you would not want to know how I caught them. Uncountable questions boggled my mind. What was the date? The time? The place? They were causing my head to ache even more. How was my family? They must have heard about the crash… they must have thought I was dead. The island was resonant with the orchestra of insects and the clear sound of waves hitting the shore. My eyelids became heavier as I lay on a mat of dried leaves. I only prayed that there would be no ferocious animals around.

  The second day on the island was sorrowful. A few of my blisters had burst, and I was in agony. The red rashes had not vanished yet, the slightest touch was a torture. There was no sign of any rescue teams, not a plane above my head, nor was there a fisherman’s boat in sight. Debris from the airplane was sent up to the shore one by one, the originally flawless beach now looked more like a hoarder’s chest. Despite being thankful to be alive, the day could not be worse. There was only appalling food—“grilled fish”, with plenty of raw parts, and no water. I did not think I could survive any longer. The weather was sultry and only the shades of the coconut trees were offering me the protection from the scorching sun.

   Night fell but I could not even shut my eyes. I watched the dawn break before me. It was the third day. The sun crawled up from the horizon and lit up the sky. The view was undeniably awe-inspiring. Suddenly, I heard a strange noise. It was not the waves, nor the waving trees. A silver helicopter flew past and made a U-turn in the air. It came back for me. The pilot must have spotted the debris on the sand. Hope sprang in my heart. I cared nothing about the pain I felt and ran out waving my hands hysterically, trying to attract the attention of the pilot.

  The helicopter landed in about 20 metres from me. A few men in uniforms came out and helped me aboard. The aircraft was part of the national rescue team. I learnt 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 had been 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. Confusion flooded my mind once again, but all I allowed myself to think of was to go home to my family.

*For the original version: http://euanlife.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-sole-survivor.html

By,

Euan Thum,

Collaborated with,
Low Li Xin,
Editted by,
Mdm Cheah Sweet Moi.

Rated 5 out of 5.