GOD’S GUIDANCE

Chapter 1

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.