A flight I can never forget “Please fasten your seat belt sir. ” The voice of the flight steward woke me back from my reverie. After what seemed like thousands of years, finally, I was taking a long break from my official and marital stress. I just couldn’t stop daydreaming about how perfect my vacation in Hawaii would be! As my flight took off, the excitement grew even further to feel the warm, sandy beaches sparkling in the sun, the sweet-smelling pine trees and the luscious aroma of Pena Coladas, which would be welcoming me in a short while.
I was so glad to leave back my chaotic life, which had made a person as carefree as me stress out at the drop of a hat, that all the fuss and the children whining around me just didn’t seem to matter at all. It was a smooth night flight and for a change, even turbulence seemed to be having a day off. But about twenty minutes later, the plane sharply jolted back and forth. It was sharp enough to grab everybody’s attention. A cold shiver ran down my spine and I quietly scolded myself for visualizing all those movies about plane crashes in just a fraction of a second.
I hadn’t even calmed my nerves down when suddenly extreme turbulence started occurring, making the plane lurch sideways and bags started falling from the upper luggage compartments. I could hear faint cries accompanied by nervous laughter around when the pilot made an announcement that the plane had merely gotten stuck in an air pocket and there was nothing to worry about. But just to add up to our nervousness, the cabin lights started flickering and in a minute, we were surrounded by utter darkness.
The roaring of the engines, the whispering of people everything went as silent as a grave and all I could hear was the spooky whoosh of the wings against the wind. By now I had realized that something was terribly wrong and that we all were headed towards a huge disaster. It was then that the plane started spinning in a horrible way, trolleys were crashing, and people were shrieking and I too started reciting the verses of Quran out loud.
I saw fierce orange flames burst outwards which broke a large portion of seats away from the rest of the plane and the cries for help filled my ears, but there was little I could do since we too were plummeting straight towards the solid ground. When I opened my eyes next I didn’t expect to feel any pain since there was no chance I could have survived the horrendous crash, but to my surprise, pain shot through my entire body and streams of blood trickled all over me as I tried to stir.
Shards of glass pierced through my burnt skin and deadly clouds of smoke hindered my vision. A feeling of despair and agony filled my heart as I tried to slip away from the tons of debris that was crushing my lungs. I was abruptly distracted by a continuous plopping sound and a feeling of dread formed in my stomach when I realized that any minute the spilling diesel would ignite and the fire would gobble away with it whatever had remained.
Perhaps it was the fear of death which motivated me to pull myself from under the pile of remnants and with all my might I started crawling away from the wreckage as far as I could. I had pulled myself far enough when a loud boom shook the earth beneath me. I knew that if I didn’t get help soon enough, I would succumb to my injuries. It was as if a videotape of memories had started playing on its own in my head, the days spent with my father, the moments of joy I shared with my mother, my wedding, the guilt of how I had run away from my wife, everything; I knew I was dying.
But it seemed that God had other plans for me. In a moment the air was filled with the most melodious sounds that I had heard in my entire life, yes, it was the sweet dulcet tones of the fire brigade and paramedic’s ambulance. I was among the only five survivors of that fierce air crash. I don’t know if I will be able to thank Allah enough for His mercy but I will make sure I avail this second life of mine in the best possible manner in accordance with His will and decree.
