Lost and Found: A Stranded in Paradise Romance

Rocking the Boat

When I woke up after the crash and opened my eyes, at first I thought I was dreaming. The aircraft had split entirely in two, with the burning front section dipping nose-down into the roiling sea. It was still raining heavily, and with the lightning flashing in the black sky and the huge swells rocking our broken tail section like a thimble in a bathtub, the whole scene looked like something out of Dante's Inferno. I peered over at Jenny, and when I saw that she was still unconscious, I feared the worst. I reached over and shook her, and when she stirred, she peered up at me with the rain pelting against her face.

"What...?" she murmured, glancing ahead at the missing front section of the plane. "Where are we? What happened?"

"The airplane broke in half when we hit the water," I said. "Everyone else is dead. We have to get off this section before it sinks below the surface."

I unbuckled her seatbelt and pulled her out of her seat, yanking her seat cushion off and fastening the straps around her chest. Then I glanced around, noticing that ours was one of the few remaining rows in the still-floating tail assembly.

"Wait here while I check on the other passengers," I said. "But if the plane begins to fill with water and starts to sink, you need to jump out. I'll catch up to you as soon as I can."

As she slowly began to regain full consciousness, she peered around her in horror.

"What happened to the rest of the passengers?" she said with wide eyes.

"They went down with the front of the plane. The rear section appears to have broken off when we hit the surface. Fortunately, the weight of the tail is acting like a keel to keep us upright. But I don't know how much longer it will last in this heavy storm. Try to hold on to something secure until I come back."

I hated tearing myself away from her, but there were still a handful of passengers sitting motionless in their seats, and I needed to try saving whoever I could before our tail assembly capsized in the swelling sea. I stepped into the aisle, holding onto the seatbacks to keep myself from being tossed overboard, but when I tried to revive the other passengers, everyone was stone cold without any sign of a pulse. Noticing one of the flight attendants still strapped into a seat in the rear galley, I stumbled toward the aft section, pressing my finger to the side of her neck.

No pulse.

Damn, I cursed to myself. How is it that Jenny and I managed to be the only ones to survive the crash?

But I had more important things to concern myself with while I watched the tail section rapidly filling with swirling seawater. The two of us could have jumped out the front and used our seat cushions for flotation devices, but I knew that even in the warm tropical sea, we'd likely die of hypothermia within a few hours. Besides, we'd need some provisions to tide us over until we were rescued, and we wouldn't be able to hold much while strapped into our tiny vests.

Then I remembered that most airplanes came equipped with inflatable slides at every emergency exit, and I peered out the small window of the rear exit door, noticing an orange raft clinging to the side of the frame. Knowing we'd only have a few seconds to abandon ship after the door was opened and seawater gushed into the cabin, I pulled open the galley cupboards, searching for whatever tools and provisions I could find. When I discovered a plastic trash container in one of the cupboards, I pulled it out and emptied its contents onto the floor. Then I filled it with as many water bottles and snack pouches as I could find, placing the container at the side of the exit door.

What else do we need? I said to myself, trying to remain composed in the midst of the roaring storm and the shaking vessel. Matches? Flares? Blankets?

I ripped open each of the drawers and cupboards, throwing whatever I could find into the bucket until the rising seawater reached up to my knees.

It's now or never, Dylan, I said, glancing at Jenny, who was staring back at me with terrified eyes.

"Come on," I said, grabbing her hand and pulling her into the galley with me.

When she noticed the flight attendant slumped over her seat, she peered up at me, holding my arm tightly.

"Is she still alive?" she said.

"No. Everyone else is dead. We're on our own now."

"What are we going to do?" she said, noticing the seawater beginning to pour over the lip of the broken tail section. "How are we going to survive in these flimsy life vests?"

"There's a raft attached to the outside of the plane," I said, picking up the bucket of provisions and thrusting it into her hands. "I need you to hold on to this while I open the door. Water will rush into the cabin, but we should have a few seconds before the tail section sinks. Try to make sure we don't lose any of the food and fresh water. We're going to need everything we can take with us to survive out on the open sea until somebody finds us."

Jenny nodded her head numbly while she clasped the outside of the trash bin against her thick seat cushion, chattering her teeth from a combination of fear and hypothermia.

"Okay, here goes..." I said, grabbing hold of the door handle with two hands. "Hold on to something secure to make sure you don't get washed out to sea. Once the door's open, I'll help you into the raft and we'll untether it from the plane."

Jenny nodded at me catatonically, staring into my eyes like I was the last man on earth.

I pulled the door handle up forcefully, and it popped open toward the outside, drawing a surge of sea water into the cabin. I heaved it sideways on its hinges, then I held out my hand to Jenny, easing her into the thrashing life raft while I held onto the safety handle at the side of the door.

"Hold on to the line on the side of the raft!" I shouted over the roaring wind. "Whatever you do, don't get tossed overboard or I'll never find you again!"

"Where are you going?" she said with a frightened expression. "Aren't you coming with me?"

"I just need a moment to disconnect these lines connecting the raft to the frame," I said, searching for the unlatching mechanism.

But in the shadowy darkness of the stormy night, it was impossible to read the instructions on the side of the device. All I could see was a tangle of straps with velcro attachments, and as I struggled to remove the connections, the water level began to rise over my chest. Knowing we'd only have a few more seconds before the weight of the sinking tail assembly pulled us down into the inky depths, I searched frantically for any kind of sharp object to cut the lines. A few seconds later, I felt a broken piece of metal bumping against my feet, and I reached under the water, positioning it against the straps and yanking it as hard as I could against the nylon fabric.

It took three swipes to finally break the connection, and when the raft began to pull away from the frame, I leapt out of the open door onto the bed of the raft, grabbing hold of a safety strap to keep myself from tumbling out into the sea. As we watched the last of our aircraft disappear into the sea, we held onto to each other tightly while shivering in the thundering storm. I had no idea how long we'd survive on the open ocean with barely enough provisions to last us a couple of days, but at least we had each other.

And we were still alive.