It was March 25th, 2013 and I was on a trip to Alaska to visit my family. I lived in California, so when I told people that I was going to go to Alaska for spring break, they thought I was crazy. The flight I was leaving on had about seven other people on it. The flight attendants were lazy and not very helpful. They skipped the safety presentation and let us rest until take off.

I slept until about half way through the flight until I felt some turbulence. That’s when I went to the back of the almost vacant plane to use the restroom. The airplane’s bathroom was very tiny, smaller than a closet. As I was opened the bathroom door, I heard a large explosion on the starboard side. The two children onboard the plane started to cry hysterically in their mother’s lap as their father went to the cockpit to ask the pilot what was happening. The older couple also ran to the pilot to see what was going on.

I, too, followed them into the cockpit. The pilot told us to remain calm. He swiftly got out of his seat and handed us backpacks. Then the flight attendant led us to the port emergency escape door. The pilot still had not told us what was wrong with the plane, but at the moment we were only concerned about saving our lives. The eldest of the flight attendants took one of the backpacks and told us to pull the red string when we were about fifty feet away from the plane. She handed each of us a backpack, including the children. When the pilot opened the door, he instructed the family to jump first. The older couple followed. Then I jumped. I pulled the red string after about ten seconds of free falling. When I pulled the string, a vibrant, red parasuit shot out of the backpack and slowed me down. I felt like I was peacefully gliding through the sky.

I landed about three miles from where the older couple landed. The setting was peaceful and serene, unlike the spot where the plane landed. When the plane crashed, it ignited a small wild fire that created a smoky aroma. I tried to find shelter for the rest of the night so I could rest. After thirty minutes, an approaching blizzard caused me to run into a dark cave. It seemed empty, so I curled up in the corner and slept.

In the morning, the smell of smoke was still in the air. I decided to go to the plane because I figured that is where I could find shelter. It took me five hours to get back to the plane because of the blizzard. When I finally found the plane, I climbed into the cockpit and looked for the radio. I found it under a pile of ash and turned it on. The dials were already turned to a station. When I spoke into it, I only heard static. I looked around and found a first aid kit and a black duffle bag that had “EMERGENCY” printed in big red letters on the side. I looked through the bag and found an ax, packages of freeze-dried food, a pot, a GPS, and a black box with a switch labeled “ET”. The cockpit looked nearly untouched after I cleared out all of the ash, so I went to the first class part of the plane, found a blanket, and slept in the cockpit.

When I woke up, I grabbed the ax and the pot and ventured out in search of water and wood to prepare some food. Since water was scarce, I tied a piece of cloth around my ankles to capture the dew. Once I gathered enough water, I walked about one mile until I found some wood and cut it off with the ax. I also assembled a pile of small straw- like brush, a rock, and a string like branch.

After about three hours, I returned to the plane to attempt to start a fire. I arranged my supplies after a few tries, I finally started a fire. I took the shirts off of my ankles and wrung them out into the pot. Then, I boiled the water and put the ramen noodles from the emergency pack into the pot. After I ate, I reached into the emergency bag and took out the black box labeled “ET”. I played with it for a little and then went to sleep.

To my surprise, when I woke up, I was in a different plane. I walked to the front of the small plane to ask the pilot how he found me and he said that I set off the emergency transmitter. He then slapped a McDonald’s hamburger onto my chest and told me to eat up.