Steph+K

 By: Stefani Keller  aking up to the sound of a musically set alarm, I smelled the aromas of freshly fried eggs and pancakes. My name is Stefani. I live with my mother which is soon to be kicking me out of my over lived home. My life is yet still unfinished and I currently have been waiting for the arrival of my Hawaiian trip. Needing to get away, I still think about what it is going to be like when I have to come back home. What is there for me here? I don’t have a loved one to come home too or children to care for. There is no important part of life I am waiting on. Currently fighting an eating disorder I am weighing in at 82 pounds this month. My mother is hoping that this trip will take stress out of my life and give me something to be famished for.  Today is a day of a new beginning, well at least a new getaway. Sitting in the back of a smelly half upholstered cab I think of what this trip will do for me. Hmmmm maybe I might meet someone new, maybe a cute handsome man to keep me from going back, back to a colorless world of no meaning. Arriving at the airport I step out onto the hard dry cement. As my cab driver pulls out my luggage I see a noiseless man walk through the sliding doors of the building. Standing in line motionless I saw a woman saying goodbye to her three girls and husband. It touched my heart and made me think of how my eating disorder has taken a drastic change to my life. What am I living for? Questions kept running through my head until I hit the luggage check. I walked onto the plane with much doubt that this trip could change my life.  As the flight attendants came around handing out pretzels and beverages I heard a woman crying. Questioning the situation in my mind I felt a bit of turbulence from under me. Shoveling through my hand bag I came to find a pair of headphones to satisfy my anxiety. Music has brought my life to whole refreshment; I don’t know what I would do without it. The sound soars through my mind like a bird in clear blue skies. My eyelids see black, my feet feel heavy, my mind goes blank, and I soon become numb and bare.  Screaming penetrating the ears, my eyelids move as I see convergence and confusion everywhere. Not knowing what to do, where to move, but just sitting with my hands to my head was all I could do to keep myself calm. Windows breaking people shaking, I see death, I see a dead end. I open my eyes to clear blue skies. Drifting back and forth I realize I am on a raft with three other people. Two women and one man lay helpless among the raft, confusion filled the boat. Our words couldn’t connect because of the tragic misplacement of survival. Soon enough we started to exchange names.  Megan, Sheri, and Brady are my companions for my act of breathing now. “Let’s just stay calm”, Brody silently spoke from under his long brown hair. He seemed like a quiet fellow without a lot of words, but when he does speak it’s with the wisest sincerity. “I think I am going to be sick”, exclaimed Megan from under her breath. I’m thinking she’s not going to be the strongest of woman, but it looks like she will hold out. You can look at Sheri and just see her brain at work. Not only has she said nothing but she seems quite socially awkward. Who knows, maybe she has a life experience she hasn’t yet fought. Together is what qualities we share at the moment. At least we have something in common.
 * __Flight Plan __ **
 * W ||

Chapter 2

Wishing I could do something to fix the situation I have no control over, I view the blue painted sky. Basking in the sun, we soon feel a rumble beneath our raft. Brady sat there confused while Emily yelled in grief. I noticed a small hole in the lower portion of the boat. As water was pouring in, air was seeping out quickly. Thinking, shrieking, "what was I going to do?" Ripping parts of my clothing apart, tying knots, anything to fill the hole. Emily pulled out some gum she had in her bag and started chewing rapidly. The water stopped gushing in soon enough and sighs of relief quickly filled the boat. Waking up to the sound of waves but no swaying of the boat, I arose and oversaw a white sanded beach.

Gazing in astonishment that we could finally set our feet on something solid, our minds quickly turned to survival strategy. We gathered together what was left in the raft. Pouring it all into a pile, everyone viewed a knife, first aid kit, mirror, saran wrap, and some wool. "Well at least it’s a start," exclaimed Emily with a tone of false optimism. With the feeling of safety only slightly in our minds we had to figure out where the sleeping arrangements were going to be. Not the slightest bit of relief had kicked in since night had struck.

Sounds of waves crashed by the way while viewing a black cloudy night. "I was now the bait living to survive in the predators eyes." "How much longer do we wait?" Emily sighed. Frantically shrieking, "yea its getting cold and I’m hungry," Brady added. Looking for food amongst the island was not too difficult seeing as though there was a lot of fruit around. With my disease it has taken less effort to scavenge for food. Weakness flowed through my bones as I became more vulnerable to death then anyone. The harsh reality of trying to survive set in quickly once nausea was taking over my body. Hours blended into days as our small group was deteriorating. Noticing the swift movement from a living animal in the bush, I asked Brady to grab his knife. Standing on ready to go toes, we waited patiently for more movement. A snake slithered by quickly. This one animal represented a new warnings. What else could be lying onward through the forest? As we were huddled together making out way through the forest we stumbled upon a waterfall hanging off a magnificent cliff. With what little time we had we decided to take a venture up the cliff and explore the grounds we were stranded on. One foot in front of the other we soon reach the top of what we have been venturing upon. Looking across miles of motionless ocean, Emily shrieked at the top of her lungs. "HELP ME", were the words screamed from Emily as she misplaced her last few steps up to reach the top. But what I didn’t realise is that Brady had quickly grabbed her hand and saved her from a life-taking fall. We had all decided that we had had enough excitement in one day and started to head back to our known grounds. Recognising a small mirror in Emily’s bag, a thought bubble arose off my head. "Fire!" Scrambling for fire bush and some wood, I look to the sky to see how much time I had before I lost the sun. Patience was among us as we sat in a circle around what was hopefully going to be a fire.

Smoke arose to the chilled sky of a starry night, we all lay amongst the warm sand while telling scary tales. Finally the feeling of home and warmth was raising us. At this point in time all we have is each other to keep a breath- taking day ordinary. The fumes of a dead carcass arose from the forest. Making the decision of going to find the smell alone may have not been one of my best choices.