1 Accident
Julie watched the clouds passing through the window of the plane. It was a Gulfstream IV plane used by Julie usually to travel for international award shows outside the US. Being an A-list celebrity made it easy for her to buy her own private plane and it was worth every penny it cost.
"It truly is wonderful to travel on your own plane while enjoying its comforts" Julie mused.
"This is your captain speaking. We are currently flying over the South Pacific and will arrive at the destination in about 7 hours."
The announcement from the captain broke Julie from her thoughts. Taking a sip from the wine glass, she looked outside the window watching dozens of little islands passing by.
At the age of 27, and just after 2 years in the industry, Julie Robinson was already a famous actress known throughout the world and becoming one of the highest-paid actresses in the industry. Her latest film was a box office success in both national and international audiences. She was traveling to New Zealand for an award show being hosted there.
"It's been quite some time since I last traveled to New Zealand."
She was the only person except for the pilot and co-pilot in the plane. She rarely took the staff with her as she liked to travel alone. Julie stood from the couch she was sitting on and moved towards the bed near the cockpit. After a long hectic day giving interviews to the press and then hurriedly traveling, she felt very tired.
"A quick nap seems to be in order" she grinned and fell upon the soft bed.
Soon she felt her eyes getting heavy and finally fell into the sweet bliss of sleep.
"Ugh,"
A sudden jolt awoke Julie from her nap.
"What the hell is going on?" she said groggily.
The plane was shaking dangerously and various objects were flying all over the place.
Watching the scene in front of her was like pouring cold water over her head. This instantly removed any trace of sleep from Julie's face. Now she was alert and trying to hold onto the side of the bed so as to prevent from falling on the floor. Slowly steadying herself, she went near the phone on the wall of the bed near the cockpit.
"I need to find what is happening. Gotta call the pilot for that."
Finally, she was able to grab the phone and call the pilot in the cockpit.
"What the hell is happening?" she shouted over the phone.
"Ma'am, please remain on your seat and put your seat belt on. A few moments ago, both the engines of the plane stopped working and we are trying to restart them" the pilot said frantically.
This info struck like a hammer on her head. She froze for a moment but soon tried to move towards the seat as quickly as possible under the jittery situation. Once she reached the seat and put the belt on, she holds onto the armrest for her dear life praying to God for safety.
Opening her closed eyes, she tried watching what was happening from her right side window and saw flames coming out from the engines.
(Oh God, I'm going to die) was all she could think at the moment.
The whole plane was jerking around as if in a storm and was quickly losing the altitude. Julie felt as if the seat belt holding her in the seat was going to break off any moment and she would be shoved like a ragdoll in the plane. Julie thought that she was most likely going to die as her chances of surviving a plane crash on the ocean was not that great. Watching too many plane crash investigation on the TV was the reason behind her thoughts. She also had read somewhere that private planes have a higher rate of accident and dismissed that info. But now, she was regretting getting herself a plane.
She had heard people who survived near-death experience saying how they saw their whole life flashing before their eyes. However, that didn't seem to happen in her case, as all she saw before her eyes was a suitcase flying towards her and hitting her in the head before knocking her unconscious.
Amar was having the best day of his life, he was heading for the US to study his Master's program. Initially, he had thought that his student visa wouldn't be granted as many of his friends didn't succeed in getting the much sort after visa for the US. As he was not stable financially, he got loans for his dream. He had already completed his bachelor's in his home country and was now going abroad for further studies.
(Man, I'm such a lucky guy. Not only was I able to get the flight at a cheaper cost, but I'm also the sole passenger on the whole plane.)
Amar's head was filled with such thought and he had such an exaggerated smile on his face that anyone watching him at that moment would have thought he was acting weird.
As he was the sole passenger on the plane, the plane staff were chatting among themselves while also serving him as much food as he wanted which was a bonus for him.
"This is the best moment of my life. I didn't think I would be this lucky" he said enthusiastically to an air hostess serving him food.
"Yeah, you got very lucky. We were scheduled for the maintenance of the plane and thus were not flying with any passenger. But, you showed up at the last minute asking for a seat. So, the airline made a decision to allow a solo passenger aboard the plane." The air hostess smiled while explaining and served him some hot meal and a glass of wine.
Finishing his meal, Amar started watching a movie on the plane for entertainment. He checked the ETA to his destination and found it was 7 hr. He was getting very excited about the amazing possibility that his future was holding.
I can earn money while studying to pay for my debts. Then, I can help my parents live comfortably without having to think about money problems ever again.
Being a guy from a middle-class family, he knew how much of the struggle his parents had to get him to where he is now. So, he felt it was his turn to give them back all the happiness they deserve, and getting to the US was his golden opportunity.
Pausing the movie, he went to the toilet and after exiting it, he chatted with the air hostess. The three air hostess was friendly with him, so he asked about how life was for a student was in the US. Their experience made him feel excited but also a bit worried since his lifestyle was not that similar to the people in the US.
After a while, Amar started feeling sleepy and so he took out his eye mask and went to sleep. A sudden loud voice in the speaker woke him up and being just woken up, Amar tried to shake off his drowsiness.
"...…. fasten your seatbelt," was all he managed to hear due to his drowsiness.
Quickly fastening his seatbelt, he looked around for a clue and saw an air hostess frantically trying to put her seatbelt on. He quickly turned left towards his airplane window to figure out what was happening.
Suddenly, a large shape of what seemed like a wing of a plane hit the left-wing of his airplane with the engine getting damaged and exploding and sending shrapnel flying all over the airplane. A chunk of the fuselage was missing ahead a couple of his seat. The airplane seemed to fly uncontrollably with the oxygen mask falling down in front of him. Stuff was being sucked out of the gaping hole of the fuselage.
"I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die," he kept mumbling. The shock of what was happening had frozen his mind as well as his body. He kept repeating the same thing over and over.
The violent shaking of the plane dislodged his luggage from the compartment and Amar was hit on his head by the luggage, knocking him unconscious.
