Trisha+R

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==== I felt the plane fall before I heard the engine explode. Bright lightning danced across the sky in a way that was so mesmerizing I almost forgot the plane was crashing. The turbulence was almost non-existent due to the rapid rate we were plunging towards the ocean. For some odd reason, I didn’t feel scared; I felt numb. On the other hand, everyone else was starting to go mad. The small, cramped airplane only carried a small group of my classmates and some businessmen going away on trips. Loud screams erupted from all around and I barely had any room to think. The only thoughts that crept into my mind were ones of my baby sister, who needed me to come home. Taking deep breaths, I unconsciously grasped the dove necklace around my neck. Quicker and quicker, we dashed towards the ocean - if you saw the plane from a distance you would have sworn it was a shooting star. ====

“Put your seatbelts on!” the captain screeched at us.
==== In the pit of my stomach, I had this gut feeling not to do it. Instead, I got out of my seat and crawled as quickly as I could to the back of the plane. People were yelling at me and looked at me with confused faces, but no one attempted to bring me back to my seat. Swiftly, I rummaged through the back closet until I spied a lifejacket. Although it was quite big on me, I threw it on anyways. As quickly as I could, I made my way to the big silver door and banged it open with all the force I had. ==== ==== Then, I waited. Those moments dragged on for what felt like a lifetime. I had flashbacks over and over again. Of my family, my friends, and my life back home. My mind kept repeating, stay alive because everyone needs you. I repeated that in my mind until it was time. ==== ==== The plane was only meters away from the ocean and the adrenaline rush was starting to kick in. Clenching my hands into fists and bending my knees I made, what I thought at the time, was the most unintelligent decision of my life. I jumped. Although I didn’t know it at the time, that decision saved my life. ==== ==== While I was falling, I was almost convinced I was dreaming. Floating through the air to the water below like a bird would fly slowly to the ground. It was a harmonious state. I felt almost completely at ease. ==== ==== My convulsing shakes and the rush of cold water rudely awoke me from my peaceful dream into a much harsher reality. Before I jumped out of the plane, I didn’t recall the last time I had actually went in a swimming pool. It was two years ago and I ventured into the deep end for the first time. I regretted it almost immediately. My feet couldn’t propel me up to the top to gain enough air and I nearly drowned. Memories of that moment came to haunt me now and suddenly I was unable to function my legs properly. ==== ==== Panic struck over me and I started flailing my hands like a mad woman. It took quite a few minutes to get that extra push I needed to start swimming to the island, but that’s when I heard the ear-splitting crash of the plane descending behind me. My mind kept thinking of the people in the plane and what might happen to it, but I turned back and started swimming towards the island. I couldn’t look back now. I had to keep going. ==== ==== By the time I reached the island, I was exhausted. The moon was reflecting off the ocean, creating a bright light that illuminated the whole island. It was the middle of the night and I all I wanted was to curl up in my own bed and fall asleep. Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option. Before I even had a chance to really think things through, I practically dropped to the ground and fell into a deep and heavy sleep. ==== ==== There were no birds chirping or dogs barking to wake me up this morning. Recollecting my thoughts, I got up from the warm sand. Curiously, I started walking around the beach and wandered off into the beginning of the forest. A dense canopy of trees covered the sky and the forest floor was covered with damp and soggy moss. I ran my hands along my neck searching for my dove. Luckily, it was still there. ==== ==== Off in the distance I heard a rustling of leaves. I shot down to the ground as quickly as I could. Footsteps, almost as light as a feather, could be heard softly in the distance. A sinking feeling enveloped me as I realized I wasn’t alone. Someone was here with me. ====


 * __ The Shelters __**



A rustling of leaves and the waves of the deep Pacific surrounded me. Cool, damp drops of moisture fell from the palm trees onto my warm face. I could hear the low ticking noise of a black-footed albatross. That was when they found me. There were three of them. They were all moving towards the beach with a purpose. One girl was tall with long brown hair, sandy brown eyes, and a warm, welcoming smile. The other girl was a bit shorter and had short blonde hair, pale skin, and piercing blue eyes. Lastly, there was a boy. He was on the shorter side, had darker skin, with black hair and brown eyes. As they approached me, my natural instinct was to pretend I was asleep.

“Is she okay?” the blonde girl whispered shyly to the other girl.

“I’m not quite sure. Should we wake her?” asked the brunette.

“Why not?” the boy replied.

Aggressively, they shook me until I pretended to wake up. My eyes fluttered open, and I felt the heat rising towards my cheeks. Being the center of attention always made me nervous, ever since I was a little kid.

“Are you okay?” they all asked in unison.

“Yeah I’m fine,” I muttered as I stoop up. “I’m Trisha, who are you?”

“I’m Brianna,” said the brunette.

“I’m Tessa, and we don’t know his name, he doesn’t remember anything,” replied the blonde.

We all talked about where we came from, except for the boy of course, and about the plane crash. None of us were sure how long we’d be here or how to get home, just that there were things we needed to do to survive. Responsibly, we divided up the tasks. Tessa and the boy would savage for food around the beach and the jungle. Then, Brianna and I would build the shelters. We parted ways and began our tasks.

Quickly, I obtained as much wood, grass, and straw that I could. The sun was blaring down upon me and beads of sweat started to trickle down my forehead. Ocean waves and a soft breeze was the only thing slightly keeping me cool. My mechanical senses started kicking in, and my brain created, what I thought, would be the most stable shelter we could create. Out of the corner of my eye, I became conscious of Brianna. Currently, she was sitting on the ground making tiny little piles of sand.

I strode up to her, “Aren’t you going to help?”

She sighed heavily, “I don’t know. I just want to go home, I miss my family.”

I knelt down beside her, “I miss them too, but the shelters need to be made.”

“But I don’t feel like doing anything,” whimpered Brianna.

“The shelters need to be made,” I stated. “I need your help. Can you please come help me?” I asked as politely as I could muster.

“No,” Brianna said firmly and then proceeded to stalk off.

Externally, I was able to keep my cool, but internally, I was as furious as a dragon. Through all the anger and bitterness, I continued to work. Soft sand and dry grass was the ground I built the shelters on and placed it right in the way of the sun for extra warmth. My longer brown hair kept falling in my face and irritating me. Little shards of the rough wood pierced my hands over and over again until they became numb. Heat came over me like a wave and I had to sit down. I had never worked so hard in my life. After a quick break, I returned to the shelters and finished them off as best as I could. Although it was dead quiet, I failed to notice Tessa come up behind me and tap on my shoulder.

“Ah!” I practically screamed.

“Oh sorry!” she quickly apologized. “Great job on the shelters! We have some food ready over there if you’re hungry.

Indeed, I was starving, “Yes I am, thank you. I’ll be right over.”

I smiled at Tessa as she walked away. Hesitantly, I strolled over to the water. I had not been near it since the plane crashed last night and being near the water made me uncomfortable. Dipping my feet in the water, I stopped to think. My family must be worried sick about me, was all I could think about. I had to get home, I just didn’t know how yet. Nor did I know if I would ever come home. Looking off into the distance I noticed the sun set. Images of sparkling gold and bright, fiery orange filled my eyes. Slowly, it descended towards the horizon below. It was a mesmerizing sight. The vision had me feeling warm and slightly calm. As if maybe, we could get out of this. Maybe we could go home. Just maybe, everything would be all right. Peacefully, I reached my hand up towards my dove necklace. It was a present from my grandmother; she always told me it gave her hope. In that moment I felt hope too. I made a promise to myself to come home and make my family proud. From the tiny hill above I heard voices shouting my name. I turned quickly and saw the boy pointing to the opposite side of the island. Then, I saw Brianna walk by, and I when I looked on the other side of the island I realized our fight was nothing compared to what was over there. A storm was coming, one that was bigger than any I had ever seen before.

**__The Storm__**



Piercing booms and bright lightning illuminated the island. Remnants of the birds rapidly soared to the other side of the mountain, where things looked much calmer. Off in the distance, the rain was flooding everywhere it touched and was quickly bounding towards us. The beautiful, tropical island was taking a turn for the worst. Stumbling around, I looked for dry leaves to bring to the shelter. I might as well try to grab what I can before it gets soaked. Since I wasn’t paying attention to what was underneath me, I tripped over a large rock. My arm was overcome with a harsh stinging and as hard as I tried to ignore it, I couldn’t. Carefully, I got up off the sand and continued to look for leaves. It wasn’t until I noticed the leaves in my hand turning a deep crimson that my arm was bleeding immensely. Using my bad judgment, I decided to ignore it. Looking up upon the hill, I saw the others still standing there waiting for me. Coming to my senses, I decided to join them. As I reached the top of the hill, I saw the others scrambling to the shelters. The weather was picking up quite quickly. As I was about the reach the shelter, Brianna called out to me, “I came here on a floatie; it’s down by the water. Could you go get it for us? We could really use the extra shelter!” “Wow, you could not have asked me that before I came all the way up here?” I muttered to myself so that no one could hear me. Now was not the time to start more conflict. Rapidly, I scurried down the hill and searched for the floatie. The tropical downpour had finally reached us, and I was thoroughly drenched. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a bright yellow object sliding across the sand towards the ocean. It was the floatie. I dashed after it, but by the time I reached it the ocean had already devoured it. With sinking disappointment, I marched my way back up the hill. “Did you get it?” they called out. “Sadly, no I didn’t,” I replied. “Could have tried harder,” I heard Brianna mumble. I shook it off. Fighting with her was not on my list of priorities at the moment. The four of us continued to sit in silence, each one of us left to our own thoughts. Every once in a while, someone would whisper something to themselves. We’d all come back to our senses and look around for who had spoken. When no one spoke again we all returned to our dreams and tried to escape reality. Dreams of home and warmth enclosed my mind, and I almost felt truly happy for a second. A loud growl erupted throughout the shelter. My mind snapped awake, and I sat up quickly. The noise sounded exactly like a bear. I scanned the shelter looking for signs of anything large and moving. The boy quietly whispered, “Sorry, that was my stomach.” I stifled a laugh. Throughout all the rush of things I completely forgot about food. “What are we going to do about food?” Tessa asked. “I’m not too sure,” I replied with disappointment. “We can figure it out in the morning. I’m trying to sleep,” Brianna snapped. “Okay,” the boy mumbled sadly as he turned around and went to sleep. With a now conscious ache in my stomach and a feeling of emptiness, I put my head down and tried to sleep. Pounding rain was the only thing drowning out the noise of the boy’s snores. Cradling my dove necklace, I tried to relax. My thoughts wouldn’t shut off, and I began to think sleep would never come, but the rain then turned into a soft whisper, and I slowly drifted off to sleep. A loud horn jolted me awake the next morning. The rain had stopped falling, and the island felt quite peaceful. Honk! The horn went off again, but I was too groggy to check what was going on. What woke me up was Brianna screaming, “There’s a ship!” I got up and sprinted towards the others. Tessa was excitedly pointing towards the ship in the distance, and it was coming towards us. My knees sank into the sand. My jaw dropped. Excitement filled my brain. I could not believe that we could actually be going home. We all stood there in awe and watched the ship slowly float towards us. After five long minutes that felt like forever, the ship finally docked on the beach. A long rope ladder was thrown off the deck and the Captain beckoned us toward it. The four of us got up, walked to the ship, and climbed the ladder. The Captain welcomed us aboard and began telling us how we were found. It turns out the floatie that flew away was found by another boat and it had markings that showed it belonged to the plane that crashed. Then, the police decided to check out the island near the location of the floatie to look for survivors. Overcome with joy, I was speechless. Silently, I thanked the Captain and turned towards the railing. As we started to move away from the island, I could not take my eyes off it. Throughout all the hatred I felt towards the island, it really was a beautiful place, but nothing was as beautiful as how I felt. I was going home and I could not be more excited.