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I had regained consciousness only to find a sea of dead
bodies lying around me. The area looked like a
battlefield. A detached arm, a leg, a head, lay among
pieces of metal ripped from the plane. I stared in
horror. My arm was bleeding and my whole body ached.
However, that was of little consequence as I set
about my immediate task. I rummaged through the
wreckage frantically, praying fervently that I would see
some movement, some sign of life - someone; anyone; who
might still be alive. After hours of searching, I
realised that I was the sole survivor of that disaster.
I was overcome by sheer exhaustion. Blood was oozing
from my arm. I grabbed a piece of cloth and bandaged it
the way I knew best. Thank God I was a boy scout in my
school days!
I picked up a bottle of milk and removed the tab. The
milk was sour. Turning the bottle around, I could see
the faintly printed expiry date, '02-12-97'. Well, at
least I knew then that I had been lost to the world for
no less than two days. I could remember vividly that I
boarded the plane in Penang on 30th November for my
return flight to the United States. It was just after
dinner that evening that I heard a loud explosion and
everything went black.
"No use staying around here," I told myself. All
lines of communication were closed. The radio and the
telephone were just heaps of scrap material. I packed a
haversack with whatever food and drinks I could salvage
from the wreck. Then I made my way through the dense
forest.
I must have walked for days. The noon sun beat
mercilessly on my scantily-clad body. How I wish I had
taken some clothes as well! I drank the last few drops
of water from my water bottle and trudged on. Suddenly,
I saw some footprints on the ground. I ran forward and
found that there were more, a trail leading into the
thick undergrowth and dense vegetation.
The footprints ended abruptly. Before me lay a large
clearing with a solitary wooden hut on it. Clothes on
two bamboo poles were fluttering in the breeze. I wept
for joy. With my last ounce of energy, I stumbled
towards it. Then everything sank into oblivion again
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