Snippet #2305339

Liam weakly smiled and nodded, the day's exhaustion still heavy on his mind despite the meal. "I think I'm getting used to this whole flying thing," he told Marc. He squeezed past the two seats before the window and was dozing off underneath his hat in no time. Liam wished he was that comfortable on a plane to pass out before take off.

The girl with the bright blue hair accepted the food he'd offered. She went on to talk about how she preferred Chex Mix and her hiking snack adventures and when she stopped, her cheeks flushed red and she apologized. Liam smiled. He was the same way. Not very talkative, but once he got going he sometimes rambled also. "It's okay, there's nothing to be sorry about. Let me know if you want anymore M&M's or raisins," he said. The conversation eventually died as the girl, who he'd wished he'd asked the name of, fell asleep. It was a long flight, so he did his best not to disturb her the one time he went to the bathroom and back. He kept his arms folded on his lap, not wanting to disturb either of the two sleeping on either side of him. For a while, he gazed out the window and just watched the water. There weren't many clouds out to block the view or change the scenery, so it wasn't long before Liam's head tilted down near his shoulder and he dozed off into a light sleep.

It was the sound of the captain on the intercom that roused him. He spoke a very serious warning, but when Liam came to, he wasn't able to decipher whether it was in his dream or real life. When he looked around, he came to see that it wasn't just a nightmare. Flight attendants were scurrying up and down the aisles, showing people where their life jackets were. Liam was instantly wide awake. He unbuckled his seat belt and threw himself over Marc to look out the window.

Just outside, they were only hundreds of feet above the ocean. Water. Not land. Liam's face paled. He fell back into his seat in shock. His hands began to shake. "Marc," he said, placing a hand on his shoulder and rocking him a bit. "Wake up, Marc! We're going down!" he shouted. He was so occupied in getting his backpack on his back and anything else he could salvage that he didn't think fast enough to wake up the girl next to him before they hit the water. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. One minute they were still in the air, and the next it was as though they had nose-dived into concrete. He lurched forward, his shoulder slamming into the seat in front of him before he fell onto the floor between them. A bolt of pain immediately flashed through his body starting at his shoulder. He had to manually take in a breath of air; the shock had caused him to forget to breathe for a moment.

Everything was in chaos. Even the flight attendants were visibly shaken. Some had even ditched the plane before helping other passengers. Liam felt water run past his hiking sneakers, soaking his socks. He looked down to see salt water rushing into the plane.

He felt like he was just going through the actions he was told to do as he began to make his way for the exit point of the plane. When he got there, he froze. Liam could not physically move his legs. His breathing rate increased as he looked down into the ocean. He was there for five seconds before he turned to go back to his seat. "I can't do this." He began to walk away. "I can't do this." "You have no choice, sir! You have to jump!" A flight attendant grasped the back of his shirt and pulled him backward and then pushed him down into the water.

Liam landed in the water hard, the only thing keeping him afloat was his life jacket. For a few minutes, he couldn't move, or breath. When he could, he was hyper ventilating. His eyes were wide with fear as he frantically looked for something to hold on to. Even better, he saw a life boat. He began swimming towards it. "Help! Oh, my God! Please help!" He screamed. All he could feel was the bottomless depths beneath his kicking feet. All he could see were invisible rip currents and nonexistent sea life all around him. He kept screaming for help as he neared the life boat, choking on the salt water when a wave splashed his face as he swam.