Page 34 - The Muse 2019-20 Issue

Waking Up
by Juan Escotet
7th Grade
Blue Ribbon
“BEEEEEEP...BEEEEEEP......BEEEEEEP,” the plane screeched while plummeting aflame. “JOHN, CECE,” Sarah yelled, “WHERE ARE YOU?” as she felt the wind punching at her face. “BRACE FOR IMPACT 5, 4, 3, 2...” announced the pilot.
Sarah blacked out. Thirty minutes later she woke up in the ocean on a life raft with two other people she didn't know and an aching, broken toe. Dazed and injured, she mumbled, “Who are you people?”
“Hey, Hey, Hey, lie down. You hit your head in the crash. I saw it.... You were next to me. I’m John Crawsford - nice to meet you.”
“John? JOHN? Where are my kids John and Cecilia?” Sarah frantically asked as she sat up and looked at the aircraft debris floating around her.
“I have some news,” said the woman who was rowing from the back of the raft. “I saw your kids trying to swim over to us, so I got into the water to try and save them, but the plane sank and took them with it. I’m so sorry. I tried to save them.”
Sarah broke down in tears. Mino Davis, the one who spoke up, tried to comfort her, but it was no use. John told her to let Sarah mourn and rest. John and Mino kept on rowing for the rest of the night.
The sun beat down on the group on the beach. Sarah woke up to John and Mino trying to build a hut. Disoriented from the crash, she limped over to them and asked,
“John and Mino, Right?” They both nodded.
“How do I know them.... Your names?”
“We told you last night. Do you not remember the crash?”
Sarah had a flashback, put her hands over her eyes, and suddenly snapped in disbelief of all that
had happened last night, especially to her kids. She held back her tears and tried to forget about it. At this point, Sarah was in denial. She stood up as if nothing had happened, and Mino and John were shocked.
“Do you want some fish?” Mino offered Sarah.
She nodded and devoured the fish hungrily.
“How did you cook thi-...?”
Sarah was interrupted by the loudest roar she had ever heard. She looked into the woods and saw
a big beast. The group decided that they did not want to die right then and there. So they sprinted off to the right and ran more than they should have. Sarah was the first one to stop because of her foot, so everybody else stopped for a breather.
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Oriana Lovera, Grade 7