"The Flight" by Eliu J.

The pilot welcomed everyone that was boarding the plane.
“Welcome aboard”
It was a normal day. Good flying weather and a nice and easy flight from Los Angeles International Airport to the Chicago O'Hare International Airport... at least that’s what the pilot thought.
The passengers boarded and took their seats. The sound of the engines warming up in the background. The clicking of people closing the overhead bins. All was calm, possibly too calm.
Once everyone boarded, the flight attendant began their routine safety announcements and demonstrations. “Ladies & Gentlemen! The safety instruction card is in the pocket of the seat in front of you. It shows you the equipment carried on this aircraft for your safety. A life jacket is in the pocket under your seat. To put it on, place it over your head. Clip on the waistband and pull it tight. An evacuation slide and life raft is at each door. Additional emergency exits are shown on the leaflet. In case of emergency, oxygen masks will drop down in front of you. Please pull the mask down toward your face and place the mask over your mouth and nose. If you are traveling with a child, please attend to yourself first, then the child. Breathe normally, adjust the headband to suit yourself.”
The attendants walked down the aisles and checked everyone’s seatbelts. The plane began to back out and rolled towards the runway. It got to the end of the runway and began its acceleration, pushing the passengers back into their seats. The plane lifted off the ground and made its way towards the Chicago Airport. After 30 minutes, the plane reached its peak and the people were free to unbuckle their seatbelts and use the restroom. Everything was normal.. for now. Chatter was heard throughout the plane. There a faint sound of a baby crying in the distance, it seemed so far away. All of a sudden the plane jerked and all the people fell quiet. Another jerk. Everyone sat in silence and waited for the flight crew to give their word. A few seconds passed by and finally the pilot turned on the seatbelt light and the flight crew said through the intercom “Ladies and gentlemen, the captain has turned on the fasten seat belt sign. There is some slight turbulence. Please take your seats and keep your seat belts fastened. Thank you.” The plane suddenly dropped for some feet. Everyone began to look around in panic. This was for sure not something normal. There was a loud crack and a baby began to cry. Could it be a thunderstorm? The passengers looked outside to see if there was anything abnormal, but nothing could be seen due to the thick clouds. A younger passenger, between the age of 8 and 10 kept staring out the window, trying to see if there was anything wrong with the plane wing. There was a sudden opening in the cloud and he was able to see a dark gash on the wing. What could possibly make that big of a laceration?
Another dip. This time it lasted a lot longer and lifted people off of their seats. There was more chattering, this time of panic and nervousness. Suddenly the plane jerked horizontally, as if something were pulling it to the side. Nothing seemed to move, there was no noise other than the plane engines. It was too calm. Something bad was bound to happen. Minutes passed and nothing happened, people began to relax and believe that everything was good. All of a sudden the plane dropped once again, almost completely vertically. Screams were heard and the oxygen masks dropped from the compartments above. The lights throughout were flickering and everything was shifting downwards. A teenager that wasn’t wearing his seatbelt gripped onto the front seat as hard as possible. The plane evened out a bit but was still falling, the clouds were no longer blocking the visibility but the ground, a patch of green, got increasingly bigger by the second. The pilot warned the people of an emergency crash landing. Everyone gasped and prepared for the crash. Everything went black and only a ringing in the ear could be heard. Some people finally came to their senses and looked around, helping those that seemed injured or those that needed help taking off their jammed seat belts. A mother, was desperately looking for her son, who was nowhere

in sight. She walked up and down the aisle screaming her sons name. Where could he possibly be? Was he dead? Nothing. People wandered outside and looked around, stranded on a foreign land. How was this possible? What seemed like a regular flight took a turn and now was a case of survival on a foreign land.