Hawaii. Summer sun, cool grainy sand squishing beneath my toes, the calming sound of the ocean waves rolling onto the beach. The sweet, sugary, cold Popsicle dancing on my tongue. Pure happiness. I feel a jabbing at my side, it's an elbow, that belongs to my brother, Justin, and I hear him yelling at me to wake up. “Move over you're squishing me, and you sound like a dying walrus!” he yelled directly in my ear.

“Sorry,” I mutter under my breath. Normally I would throw a comeback at him for the walrus remark, but I am just too excited to fight with my brother today. I mean, I am going to Hawaii, the coolest place I’ve ever been, and just about the farthest away from Illinois I can get.

The flight attendant comes on over the intercom, “We've had a great flight today. We are just about 30 minutes away from our destination, Honolulu, Hawaii!” I can't wait! I have been dreaming for a trip like this for... well... forever! Suddenly, the plane started shaking, heads started bobbing, and people began to panic.

“We are going into a slight bit of turbulence, but there is no need to panic,” the Captain calmly reassured, “Please fasten your seat belts if you have not done so already.” The plane then took a sudden nosedive, and the passengers began to yell, as we all knew the nosedive was not on purpose.

“Payton! Justin!” my mom screamed, Put on the masks!” It was just then that I realized the yellow masks dangling from the ceiling of the plane. I helped Justin put his mask on first, but I didn't have enough time to get mine securely fastened before we felt plane drop.

The feeling of falling was powerful. I can't breath. My stomach clenched and my heart dropped. A tingling feeling stung my untanned body. The feeling of dread and terror swept through my cold, sweating, shaking figure, and made me unable to move or breath. I felt paralyzed. The impact of the plane hitting the water was unbelievable, and sent many mask-covered faces jolting back. Screaming and unbuckling filled the plane as it was slowly sinking underneath the salty sea. Darkness.

I am awaken by freezing cold water splashing violently at my face, trying to suck me under it. I glance to the right of me and notice Justin is gone. Frantically looking around, I realize that everyone has left, and I am the only person in this plane. I do my best not to panic, but what else am I supposed to do? I quickly try to unbuckle my seat belt, but my shaking freezing hands can't manage such a task. I feel myself start to drift off, and I realize if I let myself fall asleep, I will not be able to wake up. I am sinking, sinking, sinking. Why try to fight it? It hits me like a punch in the stomach, I know now, I am going to die. No matter matter what I do, or how much I fight it, I am going to die. My life flashes before my eyes, 1st birthday, riding my bike, my family, my friends, breaking my leg, it's all there, and soon it will all be gone. My eyes shut.

Suddenly, I feel myself being pulled. An excruciating pain fills my leg. I can breath. I gasp for air and feel myself choking. All I can see is a blur of people. Colors of red and blue explode in my eyes. I look down at my leg to see what had caused the terrible pain earlier. I see a piece of glass, almost as big as my head, sticking out from my thigh. I yelp and scream at the gory sight of the cause of my pain. Darkness.

I can see clearly now. I make out what looks to me like my mom, and recognize Justin in the background. My mom says everything is alright. She explains to me that our plane crashed, I blacked out, all the passengers evacuated, Justin then remembered me, he swam underwater to get me, I had a long piece of glass in my leg when he found me, probably from the impact of the plane hitting the water. He swam me up to safety, I blacked out, they rushed me to the hospital, the doctor got the glass out of my leg, and here I am now. In a hospital in Hawaii. So much for my perfect vacation!