Mikayla Mair is on her way home to New York to visit her parents for Christmas. She has not see her parents in four years since she moved to Germany to attend college. Mikayla decided since she is near graduating, she should go see her family this holiday season. She deserved a break after all of this time working so hard in school.

Mikayla was on a plane headed home. The plane was set to fly over the Atlantic Ocean directly into New York. She was relieved that there would not be any delays on this exciting and long journey home.

Mikayla was relaxed in her seat, drinking water and eating peanuts while reading the letters her parents wrote to her about how proud of her they were and of how much they missed her. They understood that she went overseas to attend college to avoid any and all distractions that would get in the way of her finishing school and getting her degree. She became overwhelmed with joy that she was going home to see them, so overwhelmed she began to tear up. To keep herself together, she got out of her seat and ran to the privacy of the airplane’s bathroom so she could gain her composure and continue to enjoy her flight home to her family.

As she dries her eyes she hears a gunshot followed by the screams of the passengers. Mikayla is suddenly taken over by fear as she hears a deep voice yell”Everybody stay where you are”Followed by multiple gunshots. Mikayla looks down at the door to make sure that it was locked. Just as she locks the door she hears the someone attempt to open it. She puts her hand over her mouth as if to stop herself from screaming. A voice from the other side of the door demand”open this door now lady i know you're in there!“ Mikayla stays silent.”Alright have it your way” Said the man. Suddenly the whole room starts to tilt backwards. Mikayla caught off guard by the rotating of the room and knocked her head on the wooden countertop. She fell onto the door breaking it open and crashing into the man who was screaming for her a few seconds ago.

It was mere seconds before the plane had crashed into the ocean surface. Through all the chaos of the people screaming and water rushing into the fuselage Mikaylas only focus was to exit the Soon to be submarine. By the time she stood up her ankles were already submerged under freezing cold water. The people on the plane were in such a panic nobody gave a thought to anybody else's well being.

Luckily Mikayla was first to one of the planes exits. She pulled up with all the strength in her body to lift the lever on the door. The water was up just below her knees when she pushed open the door. With the opening of the door she fell onto the bottomless ocean. There was debris all over the surface of the endless landscape. Mikayla began swimming to the bright orange life jackets as if her life depended on it. She grabbed the orange life vest and threw it over her head. Clipping in the plastic straps were sounds of relief for Mikayla.

She took a look around and was struck with another burst of terror. There was not another person in sight.”Surely someone else had made it out.” she said out loud. She stared at the massive machine sinking down out of sight below. Once the plane was fully submerged Mikayla took one last look around. Through all the luggage and debris floating lifelessly in the atlantic she could not make out a single living soul.

Feeling defeated Mikayla raised her hand to her forehead in a futile attempt to sooth the pounding headache she was suffering. She lowered her hand to find the there was an alarming amount of blood gathered at her fingertips. Her heartbeat quickened as she began to close her eyes.

Mikayla woke to the sound of seagulls crying and waves crashing on shore. She sat up and slowly took off her lifejacket. She gazed upon the great green forest in front of her. Standing up she noticed a few soaking bags of luggage that followed her through her unknown journey. She picked them up and brought them inland so the ocean wouldn’t take them away from her.Mikayla immediately opened up the black suit case and to find some mens clothing. Most of the linens were soaked and freezing cold. She laid out the plus sized clothes on the dry ground next to her. Picking up the next bag she was disappointed to find there wasn't much to find other than a pair of sunglass tied to the inside of the pink bag.

After rummaging through the luggage Mikayla knew she had to find a way off the island  fast. With only the faintest of memories of her Girl Scout years Mikayla didn’t have much survival skills. Her main concern was finding a way off the island. She looked out into the ocean in hopes to see a ship, but her hopes were met with disappointment when all she could see was a bare horizon. Mikayla turned around to examine the island to see where the most ideal location for spotting a ship at sea would be. She examined the landscape of the island to find that the highest point was a cliff going to the edge of the island. She decided she would make it to the top before nightfall.

The hike up to the cliff was more than Mikayla had bargained for. Mikayla looked up to the sky and noticed the sun was getting close to the horizion,so she quicked her pace. Once she finally reached the top of the cliff she gave out a breath of relief. Exhausted,Mikala gathered up twigs and old palm leaves to a nice level spot atop the cliff. She shredded up the palm leaves and arranged the twigs together. She began applying friction to some wood in an attempt to start a fire before the cold of night.

After what had to be 10 minutes of consistently rubbing twigs together Mikayla finally was able to start a fire. Her focus now on keeping the fire lit. She stood up and went to gather more firewood. As she stood up she noticed lights on the horizon. She stared out into the ocean and realized that the lights were in fact ships. Mikayla's excitement was immeasurable. She thought to herself ”I'm saved.”But Mikayla realized that she had no way of signaling them. She decided that she would get some rest and figure something else out in the morning.

The next morning Mikayla woke up to a smoldering fire. She jumped up with a great idea.”maybe if i make a fire big enough the ships will see.” As she went to go gather more wood she was stopped by an intense pain in her stomach followed by a growling noise.”i guess i need to eat first.” She went down to the shore to maybe find something to eat. Upon inspecting the plants further she saw a few dark berries. Since she wasn't sure if these berries were edible or not she decided to wait on eating them.

After a while of not finding any other food sources on the island Mikayla came to the conclusion that the only way to satisfy her painful hunger was to indulge in the unknown berries. She went back to where she found the black berries and picked a few before stuffing them in her mouth. Her stomach was instantly satisfied with her decision. She continued to eat the berries until she had her fill.

Now that she has eaten away the pain in her stomach Mikayla was ready to get started on her signal fire. She began to gather twigs and other loose pieces of flammable material. Once she felt like she had enough fuel for her fire assembled atop the highest point of the island she began to start another fire.

After another grueling 10 minutes of spinning a twig she was able to make the fire burn. Now that the fire was burning all she could do was wait. She eagerly looked out to the ships out on the ocean hoping one would turn her way. Her impatience was growing with every second the fire burned. She was beginning to lose hope until she noticed one of the ships start to turn her way. There was no doubt in her mind this  ship was headed her way.

Once the ship was close enough they sent out a smaller boat so the ship wouldn’t get stuck in the shallow waters. Two men greeted Mikayla in the shore. “Is anyone else with you on the island?”the man asked “No.”replied Mikayla.”well come aboard.” said the man as he signaled for her to get on. Mikayla got on the boat without any hesitation. They took her aboard  the ship and asked her what had happened. She had explained everything from gunshots on the plane to her being stranded on the island.

The ship was headed to new york already so Mikayla went home to see her parents who were worried sick.