A Letter

Hope pushes me to grab a piece of dirty paper as well as a pen that has
almost run out of ink to write this letter to you. Even though you may
not get this, I am positive that somebody else will. I just want to
share my traumatic experience to someone who will listen, because I am
lonely here. Everybody has died and I am trying my very best to
survive. I do not know whether I will end up just like the people
around me. However, I will hand everything to God, because I know that
He has made some good plans for me.

Do you still remember our promise about taking a leave from work and
having a vacation to a 'special' place like Sahara Desert? Well, I have
almost fulfilled my wish, but not in a happy-holiday mood. Here I am,
in an unknown desert, with neither oasis nor any plant beyond my sight.
I am suffering from the horrible hear of sun in the day and the extreme
cold at night, but deep down inside, I feel cold. A sea of corpses lies
ahead of me. All are in miserable state and some have decayed. A sight
of them will haunt me to the incident three days ago, which had taken
people's lives, properties and love. The remains of Boeing 212
Boulevard Airbus are so badly burnt until I cannot tell whether it used
to be carrying over one hundred and fifty passengers on board. Why
didn't I listen to your advice to take the next flight? Why must I be
the only survivor? There are no answers to my questions above, except a
fact that is left on my mind up till now-it is too late to regret what
has happened. I have to face the reality and go through all the
obstacles before getting back to my wonderful normal life.

I am not sure how everything had started. All I can recall now is that we had a nice
journey on board until the plane jerked a little about five hours after
it had dived the sky. As usual, the chief stewardess announced through
the speaker that seat belts must be fastened and that nobody should get
out of the seats before the weather got better. I did not pay much
attention to the announcement, as I was tired out of the long flight
hours. Out of a sudden, the airbus jerked to the right and began to
tilt down in full speed. The passengers panicked- the adults ran to the
side doors of the plane with their life jackets on, but it was
impossible to get out of the plane since there was no further
instruction from the aircrew; the women and children were crying and
shouting for help. It was a useless attempt since everybody on board
was in danger; nobody was going to rescue them. I myself was still
sitting on my seat, both hands clutched tightly and eyes shut
forcefully. Cold sweat began to trail down on my neck. I spent the last
few minutes of my life trying to imagine what would happen next, but I
as too anxious to think of anything, even my family. Flame had entered
the plane out of the blue, engulfing some passengers in the Business
Class a few rows ahead of my seat. I knew that it would not be long
before the plane exploded. A few minutes later, the airbus blasted.
Screams could be heard everywhere. I did not know what happened next.

I squinted my eyes after looking directly at the bright sun. Where am I?
Is this the Heaven or the Hell? I could feel the pain all over my body.
I turned my head to the right. It was a difficult attempt, but it did
not matter just as long as I knew where I was and how my condition was
then. A few meters away from me, a little girl in pink dress, was lying
motionlessly on the ground. Her right arm was gone, but strangely her
left hand was still holding a mini Teddy Bear tightly. Tears began to
flow from my eyes, making their way to my chin. Usually, I would have
wiped them away because they gave me some funny feelings. This time, I
let them off. A little girl, not more than ten, brought smile and her
only possession to her death, despite her lost right arm. I had
survived, with aches all over my body, but no smile was shown on my
face, only tears trailed down on my cheeks. What a shame!

After learning the lesson of the day, I went into a deep sleep. I had a
horrible nightmare-I had died on the same spot where I was, but my soul
was still wondering around. I could see a group of rescue team walking
towards my corpse. One of them felt my breath and shook his head
towards his teammates in misery expression. The team began to move my
body into a large black plastic bag. I had tried shouting at them that
I had not died, but they seemed blind and deaf. I approached one of
them and touched his shoulder, but he did not turn around and look at
me. Before I realized that I was just a soul, I had wakened up. My
breath came in fast and continuous pace, but I was glad that it was
just a bad dream. There was no way that dream would come true. I must
be able to make it.

It was a silent morning. I could not hear any voices around. I had tried
getting up from my lying position, but my muscles would ache very
badly, causing me to stir back to the same position. How am I going to
survive while I cannot get up at all? Suddenly, an idea flashed into my
mind. My body would creep towards the little girl and lean against her
as a support. I could get up slowly, taking the ache step by step
before doing it successfully. I did so, and my effort was paid off. To
my horror, I found my body in burnt state, even though it was not as
badly burnt as some of the corpses beyond my sight. Thank God I am
still alive!

Next, it was the water problem. I could starve myself for days, but not
in the case of drinking. I needed water badly. The only thing I could
do was to obtain it from my perspiration. I took off my wet T-shirt,
compressed it and dripped it into my mouth. Know that you will be
disgusted by this. However, that's all I can do to struggle for my
life.

I shall end here now. My hand is aching badly after writing such a long
letter. There are not many activities I can do these days since I am
still too weak to stand up and that I cannot find any food or water
sources. Before ending my letter, in case I will not be able to see you
again, I would like to thank you for our seven years of friendship. You
have brightened up my days and given me support and encouragement in my
career. Goodbye, Iris! Send my regards to my parents.

With love, Melissa