A Slice of Fiction by Bailey Pourbaix

The Crash

It was a Tuesday afternoon at BC High and it almost seemed normal. Planes were flying overhead during an all calm gym class out on the turf with Ms. Hanks. We began with stretches and pushups and had then moved onto some intense games of handball when we heard a loud sound overhead. When we looked up, we could not believe our eyes. What we saw was a plane, but not just any one. It was huge and was spiraling out of the sky and headed right towards our gym class. Everyone began to scream and run in all different directions. It was chaotic but even more scary. I began at a hard sprint towards the highway and the ocean just beyond that. The plane was inches away from the ground when I leapt over the guard rail and into the waiting bay. It all seemed to be in slow motion as I felt the shock wave go over my head and the miniature earthquake in the ground. SPLASH! I hit the water and heard the sound of my bellyflop before I felt the pain of jumping fifty feet into the ocean and landing on my stomach. I was under the water for a minute but I could still hear the sirens of the fire trucks only several yards away and fifty feet above me. I surfaced to the water and gasped for air. I could barely breathe because the wind was knocked from me upon impact into the bay. I caught my breath and swam towards the shore. I was climbing out of the water when it happened again. Another plane. This time it hit the water behind me. A massive wave emerged from where the plane hit and started right for me. Before I could get myself completely on land, it slammed me face first into the rocks. As the wave receded I regained conciseness. I had to get out though, what if another wave came. I slowly struggled to my feet and got back up the rocks. The first thing I saw was a plume of black smoke on the field. The school was up in flames and debris was blowing around the windy campus. I started to cross the highway without thinking, I had a bad concussion and had almost no clue what I was doing. I huge horn sounded, I looked to my right to see the huge fire truck barreling straight for me going to fast to stop. I dove to the ground as the truck drove right over me but without running me over. Jeez, I said to myself, I have to be more careful. This time, as I got up I looked both ways then crossed. I got to the field and saw many people on the ground or being loaded into ambulances. The fire crews were working to put out the flames now and it seemed under control so I decided to leave. I set off and a hike to the footbridge and to JFK where I somehow managed to catch the 2:51. I was almost home when I realized I didn’t have my backpack. Oh well, I thought, its a good excuse not to do my homework.