The Book of Bones and the Stars

Tyler

The sound of fire crackling around me wakes me from my slumber. The heat from the flames are intense and it is increasing rapidly. I open my eyes to see that the fire is creeping toward me at an alarming rate. The plane is in shambles and I try to move, but it's no use. My back is pressed into the cockpit of the plane, while huge pieces of shrapnel pin down my left arm. I try moving, but instantly regret it. Pain ripples down my arm and I can only respond in a scream. Tears brim my eyes as I see blood covering parts of the plane that was filled with innocent people, but when I see guts dangling from the roof I vomit. The fire is close to reaching me and I can feel the heat trying to sear my skin till there is nothing left but bone. The smoke is getting heavier making it harder to see. I have two options and I hate both of them, either dislocate my arm or stay and burn alive. I choose to live so I take a deep breath and slam my body forward as hard as I can. Screaming in agony I keep pulling myself forward till I hear a pop. I quickly remove my limp arm from the debris and realize there are pieces of shrapnel imbedded in my flesh. I cradle my arm and try to find away out of the wreckage. Flames are cornering me from every side so I did the only thing I could do, I opened the cockpit and slammed the door closed behind me. Two dead bodies lay in the pilots seats, I cover my mouth and try not to gag at the smell . Only way off this plane is through the window so I get on top of the controls and press my back into one of the dead pilots. I rare my feet back before slamming my heels into the glass cracking it. I rare back again and repeat the process creating another crack. Again I slam my full weight into the glass with my heels and the glass finally gave way and shattered. I climb through the broken glass with my good arm and make my way off the wreckage. I reach the nose of the plane, or what's left anyway, and jump down to the sand. I land on my bad arm and I stifle a scream as the shrapnel sinks further into my skin. I slam my head into the sand in frustration and pain as blood seeps through my torn hoodie.

The sand is soft and cool against my arms and I shiver as a cool breeze relinquishes itself against my skin. Goosebumps rise in its wake. I get up and start to look for somewhere to take shelter and get away from the burning wreckage. As I'm looking for rocks or trees to take cover I take in my surroundings. The ocean is a beautiful teal to begin with and as it stretches it becomes a deeper blue. I notice there are no ships of any kind on the water and I wonder where in the hell I am. The sand stretches for what seems like miles, but very faintly I see some boulders that look as if they are sturdy enough for shelter. I make my way over to them and collapse. I cringe in pain as I take off my hoodie to access the damage of my arm. I can see the shrapnel that buries itself beneath my skin and its gruesome. Large jagged pieces are sticking out of the skin while some are buried so deep you can see small rough edges poking through underneath my arm. I want to pull them out, but I know if I do I'll most likely cut an artery and bleed out.

I lay my head back against the boulder to rest, but in doing so my mind wanders to dark places. My mind races as to where my sister is and plays the worse scenarios over and over. Anxiety clouds my judgement and I'm terrified that she's alone and in pain, or worse dead. Instead of panicking I take calm deep breaths and hope that she is somewhere safe. Right now I need to focus on finding someone and figuring out where in the hell I am. I get up from my resting place against the boulder and make my way around the wreckage to see if I can salvage anything. There are various bags that are just lying around the plane wreckage. The fire is still raging so I stay away as far as I can. Some luggage looks charred and won't be of any use, but others have little to no damage. I grab as many bags as I can muster with my dislocated shoulder, which isn't but a couple bags, and I make my way towards civilization wherever that may be.