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The Sea
"Ladies and gentlemen," the pilot's
voice came over the intercom of the DC-6, "we have engine trouble.
We are going down. The are life preservers are beneath your seats.
Please put them on, but don't inflate them at this time. When they
are secure, please fasten your seat belts and prepare for a landing
in the sea. The stewardess will come back with life jackets for the
children and see that they are fitted. We are always prepared for
such emergencies. The sea is a little rough, but the plane should
stay afloat long enough for us to transfer to the life rafts. The
worst you can expect is possibly a little seasickness. I have
notified the Philippines, and help is already on the way. It will
arrive in a short time. There is no reason to panic. Please stay
calm, and stay in your seats until the stewardess directs you to
prepare to leave the plane. That will help to speed the
evacuation. Thank you."
"You're a big boy." The stewardess
handed me a life jacket. "Can you put this on? It goes on just
like a vest and fastens in front. I'll check it when I am through
with the younger ones."
"Sure. I don't need any help." I
slipped into it and buckled my seat belt, ready for the crash. I
was terribly frightened but elated at the same time. I would have a
fantastic story to tell my class when we returned to school. After
all, didn't the pilot say they did this all the time? A long boring
plane ride had just become exciting.
I looked across the aisle at my
little brother, Jamie, sitting beside my mother. I could see he was
scared, but not as much as Mother. She sat calmly praying, but I
could see her crying and shaking. Then I looked up at Dad sitting
between the window and me. He was looking out the window. I knew
he was praying too.
My parents were missionaries to the
Philippines. We were on our way to the States for a long awaited
vacation. We had been in the islands four years. I could hardly
remember my grandparents, but I did remember my fifth birthday at
their house a few weeks before we left, and I could remember their
big Saint Bernard, Queenie. I was really excited about going home.
It did not seem like home to me, but that is what we always called
it. I would have such an awesome story to tell. I probably would
not have to wait to go back to school. All the kids would flock
around Jamie and me to hear the story. It would surely help to make
new friends.
The sea is coming up fast." Dad put
his arm around me and pulled me close to him to protect me. I felt
safe with his big arm around me. Nothing can hurt me now.
"We are in your hands, Lord." I heard
my mother whisper as she pulled Jamie close to her. "Do whatever
you will with us, but please save the children." She kissed my
brother on the head and looked at me. "I love you, Timmy."
"I love you too, Mom." I smiled and
snuggled closer to Dad. "God will take care of us. You'll see. I
love you too, Dad, and you, Jamie."
He did not answer. He just squeezed
me really tightly and pulled me forward as the plane splashed
through the top of a wave and then another and another. Then
suddenly, it seemed like we hit a solid wall as the plane dove nose
first into the sea. I heard a scream from the cockpit, and water
started rushing back into the cabin. Then the tail came down with a
hard bang. There was a lot of screaming in the back. I wondered if
anyone was badly hurt.
As soon as the tail came down, the
stewardesses started back toward the emergency doors over the wings.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please remain in your seats, and do not
panic. That would only hinder the orderly deplaning. We have plenty
of time. The plane should float for several minutes, possibly as
much as an hour. Let's get the children out first. Their parents
will accompany them.
She opened the escape hatch in front
of Mrs. Jennings' seat, and Mrs. Jennings led her three girls onto
the wing. "Take Sarah's hand, Jamie, and you take his, Timmy. Your
parents will be right behind you." Mr. Jennings stepped into the
aisle and guided us through the escape.
Everything seemed all right, but just
after I had stepped onto the wing, I heard a horrifying scream. A
big wave broke over the wing. It hit me like a freight train! I
was in the water, rolling over, and over, and over, and over, and
over. I could not breath. The water was all around me. I tried to
scream for help, but I could not scream. I tried to cry because I
hurt so badly, but I could not cry. I just rolled over, and over,
and over again. I'm drowning! I thought. Please, God,
don't let me die! I'm too young to die! But I continued to
roll over and over and over again in the angry sea.
Then as suddenly as the wave had hit
me, I was bobbing on top of the water choking and coughing, trying
to get the water out of my lungs and some air into them. When I
finally got my breath, I looked around. I was all alone. Mrs.
Jennings, the girls, Jamie, the plane, they were all gone. I could
not see anything but water. Water. Water everywhere! Nothing
else! No one else for miles and miles! I was alone! All alone!!!
I was frantic. I screamed. I yelled. I called for someone to
help. Anyone. But there was no one. I was all alone in the
monstrous sea.
I had always been taught to pray when
I was in trouble and did not know what to do. Naturally I prayed,
"God, I thank you for saving me from that big wave. Now, please!
Save me from the sea! Let the others be saved also! And please
help me to find them!" A strange calmness settled over me. I knew
I would be all right.
Then I thought I heard someone cry
out. I turned and looked in the direction of the sound, but I could
see nothing. The sun was down. It was getting dark, but I was sure
there was nothing out there. Then, it came again. This time it was
closer. It sounded like Jamie. "Jam--Ouch!" I cried. It felt
like someone had hit me in the hip with a baseball bat, and I was
rushing through the water. I must have been pushed for five
minutes; then, I was still again, but not for long. Bam! I was hit
again! This time in the stomach. It almost knocked the breath out
of me. I was rushing backward through the water. I heard another
scream! I knew I did! It was a girl! One of the Jennings girls
must be out here somewhere. Another scream! That was Jamie
for sure! Another baseball bat hit me, and I realized that a
dolphin was hitting me and pushing me through the water. I had heard
how dolphins sometimes rescue people from the sea, but, Ouch!
Do they have to hit so hard? The screams and crying of the
others were getting closer. I knew they could hear me when the
dolphins hit me. They were bringing us all together. "Don't be
afraid," I yelled at them as loud as I could. "They're dolphins!
They're saving us!"
But they hurt! Bad!" Came the
answer. It was a girl's voice.
That must be Sarah. "Is that
you, Sarah? Ouch!" Another dolphin hit me. Another scream! "Is
that you Jamie?"
"Yes! These things are going to kill
us!"
"No they won't. Thank God they're
here. They are taking us to land."
Another scream, "Mommy!"
"Debbie, is that you?" I knew that
was Sarah's voice.
"Ouch! Mommy! Where are you? Help
me!"
"That was Julie!" Sarah called.
Then, "Momma! Momma! Mommy!" A
chorus of voices shouted, but there was no answer.
Again, and again, and again, we
called for our mothers; but still, there was no answer.
Apparently, my mother's prayer had
been answered. All five children on the plane were still alive, but
what about the grownups? What happened to the plane? Did it
sink when that big wave hit? or is it still out there somewhere?
I decided it had gone down when the wave rushed over the wing.
But why didn't the dolphins save
Mrs. Jennings? She seemed to be so nice. We had met them in
the airport in Manila while we were waiting for the plane. We
children had played while our parents chatted. Everyone had enjoyed
the chance meeting.
The hitting, and bruising, and
screaming, and crying, and calling to one another, along with an
occasional dunking and rolling in the water until we thought we were
going to drown continued through the night. The hours dragged. I
was sure every bone in my body was broken. Drowning would have been
better than being beaten to death.
We will never know how far the
dolphins pushed us, but we were pushed from dusk until the first
rays of the dawn. Then I felt terrible pain in my right leg, as if
I had cut it on a sharp rock. The pain was terrible! I realized
that meant we were in shallow water. I tried to stand up and found
the sand with my feet, but I could not stand. The dolphin must have
sensed it, because he gave me a final nudge, and I was lying on the
beach when the wave went out. The next one tried to take me back,
but I hung on, crawled up onto the beach, and slept.
Copyright 1995
By
Leonard H. Hall, Sr.
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