Hi! My name is Ethan, but then you knew that already because I'm, like, famous now. Famous for surviving 7 years on a desert island, all alone. Well, nearly all alone, we can't forget Niamh can we? I'm getting ahead of myself. So, umm, yeah, I should probably start somewhere at the beginning.
I should probably give you some info on me. When all the fun began I was just shy of 30. I was working as a software developer for a small company. In my spare time I enjoyed life outdoors, walking and mountain biking and that sort of thing. The closest I ever got to survival skills was watching Bear Grylls on TV. I was a little overweight, but my 6'5" frame hid a lot of sins.
Anyway one summer my employer sent me to South Africa to a conference. As usual, I enjoyed watching the crowds milling around the airport, wondering who I might end up sitting next to; hoping for someone cute. There was a decent contingent of fair maidens, but mostly they were with partners who kept a keen eye out for other men ogling their prize. At the gate my eyes fell on a tall, slim young thing. She was probably 6" tall or just short of that, with gorgeous auburn hair down to her shoulders. Unusually for her hair colour she had well tanned skin and no freckles. Her eyes were a blueish green.
She was wearing baggy jeans and a thick jumper that left no hint of the curves underneath at all, but her face was delightful. She caught me checking her out and blushed, looked away, and then eventually moved away. That blush was so cute.
We boarded the plane and I took my seat at the window by the emergency escape in the middle. I always sat there due to the extra leg room. I wasn't going to regret that decision! The plane was only about half full, and it was looking like it was going to be a lonely trip as my neighbouring seat was empty. Then just as I was settling in with my book someone sat down in the aisle seat. I looked out of the corner of my eye and was delighted to see it was the gorgeous redhead.
I let her get comfy and then tried to strike up conversation.
"Hey, I'm Ethan. What's your name?"
"Niamh" was the one word reply.
"What are you heading to Africa for?" I asked.
"Ohhh stuff," was her simple reply.
I could sense she wasn't one for talking, so I settled down with my book to wait until the in-flight entertainment kicked in. As usual the time just after take off is busy as the attendants pass out drinks and food. I decided on a beer to go with my food. Niamh had water. I got stuck in to the fiddly business of airline food. Suddenly Niamh piped up:
"I'm sorry Ethan. I don't talk much, and I'm terrified of flying. I'm Niamh, I'm 19, and I'm from Wicklow in Ireland"
We chatted a little but I could sense she didn't really want to so I put my headphones on and half tuned in to the action movie showing.
We had been flying for a few hours when the plane suddenly buffeted quite considerably. A couple of the attendants lost their footing and there were gasps all round. Almost immediately the seatbelt sign came on and the captain ordered the crew to their seats as quickly as they could. They started stashing their trolleys as more turbulence hit the aircraft. An attendant came over the tannoy asking for calm. It was just a bit of heavy turbulence.
I looked around and there were a lot of worried faces. Niamh's knuckles were white as she gripped the armrest hard. The turbulence got worse. One particular bit left us feeling as though we were dropping out of the sky. We probably were. The plane suddenly jolted heavily as it levelled off again. Someone who hadn't bothered to belt themselves in found their head smacking in to the overhead lockers. There was quite a lot of blood, but nobody could do anything for fear of getting hurt themselves.
There was another heavy jolt followed by a very funny noise. I looked out of my window and was shocked to see one of the engines hanging at a very funny angle. It slowly disconnected itself from the wing of the plane and dropped off. Large chunks of debris flew into the other engine on our side causing it to smoke heavily and grind horribly. Then it burst into flames. We were going down, and fast!
An announcement came for us to brace. We did. As if our lives depended on it. It seemed like forever, but eventually we were close to the ocean. The pilot did his very best, but the crash was still very heavy and the plane started breaking up on impact. As soon as we hit the water I had the emergency door open. I got my life vest on and got the hell out. I could see flames at the front of the craft already, and the back was filling with water very quickly.
I leapt out - there wasn't time for the slide. We were in the tropics I guessed, but even so the ocean felt cold. I needed to get out of the water as quickly as I could. I spotted a large section of wing floating nearby and swam for it. I hauled myself up onto it and lay back to regain my breath. I was aware of a whimpering voice close by calling for help. I looked out and saw a woman in the sea. I paddled my makeshift raft towards her as quickly as I could and hauled her aboard. It was Niamh. She had a bit of a cut on her forehead and blood was flowing quite freely. I took off my t-shirt and tore a strip off it and tied it around her head as tight as I could whilst she lay on the raft weeping.
This wasn't a time for self-pity, so I shouted at her to pull herself together or I'd be pushing her off again. That did the trick. We looked around and I was amazed to see the plane had vanished under water already. All that was left was flotsam. I told Niamh to fish out as many floating bags and cases as she could, and did the same. She looked at me funnily.
"Who knows where we are," I explained. "Chances are nobody knows where we are either and hopefully we'll find some stuff in the bags to keep us going, wherever we are. I don't plan on dying out here if I can help it."
We did our fishing until there was nothing left to fish for and then I surveyed the surroundings. We were literally in the middle of the ocean. There was nothing to see all around. I needed to take stock of the situation. I was wearing jeans that were soaked. I needed to find something dry. Niamh was also wearing thick, wet clothes. We were also probably going to go into shock once the adrenaline wore off.
I picked through the cases I could get open easily. Most were wet, but one or two weren't. I found a pair of shorts that would do, so slipped out of my wet jeans. My boxers came off too - I couldn't help it. Now I was naked.
"What the hell are you doing Ethan," shouted Niamh. She was staring fixedly at my cock!
"I'm sorry Niamh, but I need something dry to wear. I'll catch cold as these jeans dry."
"Ok, but did you have to get naked in front of me like that? At least turn around!"
"Prefer to see my arse crack would you," I quipped, turning around, slipping on the shorts. Niamh's fell silent. I slipped on a t-shirt as well - I didn't want to get burnt.
"Now it's your turn. You need to get changed too. I'll look away if you like," I said.