Copyright Sethp 2008 all rights reserved
It was horrible. From the moment they saw the flames and smoke through the window of the small aircraft, Beth and Brad's life had been a continuous series of one horrific moment after another. First there was the violent splash down into the ocean, the frantic struggle to get the door over the wing open before the plane sank, and finally the draining hours spent in panic and confusion as they made their way to a small island off in the distance.
As soon as they had arrived at the beach and crawled out of the reach of the waves, they had both collapsed. They lay there completely spent and unable to move. Beth had no idea how long she and her brother had lain there. They had both actually fallen asleep; the physical and emotional trauma taking its toll on them.
Beth sat up looking over at her still sleeping brother, Brad. He had saved their lives with his strength and swift actions during the crash. The only other people on the plane, the pilot and co-pilot, had perished upon impact leaving Beth and her brother alone. She had seen the Island from up in the air. The pilot had circled it as he tried to keep control of the aircraft.
She knew that they were miles away from anywhere, and that this was one of hundreds of atolls in the Pacific Ocean, uninhabited and probably nothing more than a dot on the map. Beth heard Brad stirring and walked over to him.
"Brad? Can you hear me? Are you ok?" She asked quietly kneeling down at his side. She adored him and couldn't stand the thought of anything happening to her hero.
"I think so, sis." He answered groggily. "Just a little banged up is all. How are you?"
"I'll live. I'm really ok. How long do you think before they send someone out, and before they find us?" Beth asked. "I'm sure the pilots sent out an SOS didn't they? Are we really going to be ok?"
"Do you trust me?" He asked her.
"I trust you completely," she responded.
"Then everything will be ok," he said reassuringly, smiling at his sister.
"I'm sure that there is a search party headed our way right now." Brad tried to look hopeful. "But everything happened so fast, I just don't know and we're pretty far out here," he continued, "Let's just assume, that it will take them a few days to find and reach us."
"In that case, we'll need some shelter and some water and some food." Beth replied, trying her best to remain positive.
"Hey I see I'm not the only one who watches the Discovery Channel!" Brad laughed, the tension already starting to melt away as they formed a plan of action. "Let's head into the jungle a little bit and over towards that ridge, I want to see if we can't find some water first," he said.
Brad and Beth moved into the interior of the island and away from the beach, until they came across a small stream of water that was coming from the general direction of the ridge that Brad had seen earlier. They had found some fresh water, at least, and that was the most pressing issue. They could survive with water. They continued towards the ridge, discovering that it was easily accessible with a flat clearing under an outcropping of rocks. This would provide plenty of shelter for the next couple of days if needed; they had also noticed some coconut trees by the beach. It wasn't the Hilton but they would manage.
Brad and Beth had always been close. They were the best of friends growing up; this flight down to American Samoa to visit their parents was going to be the longest that they had seen each other since going off to separate colleges. Brad was two years older than Beth and she had always adored him. She missed him terribly when he went off to college. Their parents were professors at the University of Michigan and had been working their summers in Samoa for few years. Brad and Beth had never been there and this was supposed to have been an amazing vacation for the whole family. The best part was that she finally got to spend some time with her brother. She would never admit to anyone, but she had always had a crush on him.
"Well I have my wish now don't I?" Beth thought to herself. "Quality time with my brother at last."
The weather was beautiful and they had found enough shelter, food and water to make the time go by in comfort. Neither of them had been injured in the crash and despite the grief they felt for the two pilots, they were in pretty good spirits.
As the second day started turning into night, Beth was starting to get concerned. "Brad, are you sure they will be able to find us?" she asked.