In a random Midwest city, a young woman walked down the sidewalk of her driveway towards her car. She was carrying a bag in one hand, and a phone in the other. In what seemed to be a well practiced maneuver, she opened her car door, set her bag on the passenger seat, and climbed into the car. She pulled the seatbelt across her chest, clicked it into the lock, and with a wave to her kitty that was watching her from the living room window, she backed her vehicle out of the driveway and started her commute. It was as she was driving down the highway towards her destination that everything went south.

A truck in the opposite lane suddenly lost control and veered into her lane, and as headlights filled her vision and she pulled her arms up to try and protect herself instinctively, she recalled the cliche in webtoons of getting hit by “Truck-kun” and couldn’t help but cry at the irony of her meeting a similar fate. With a loud crunch, her vision went dark. When she came to, she was surprised to find herself unharmed, her raised hands and arms showing no cuts or signs of damage. She also felt no pain, which seemed impossible by the amount of car debris she could see around her.

It was as she started to get up from the wreckage that she started to realize that something was wrong. People were frantically running towards her but despite her current standing position, none of them were looking at her. They were all glancing it seemed through her and she found herself turning around to see what it could be garnering their attention, only to see what appeared to be herself still sitting among the debris field of what was left of the two cars.

“Oh,” she thought upon seeing the grisly sight, “I guess I wasn’t unharmed after all. Well, now what do I do? Am I really dead? Is there really no chance for me?”

She gazed on as people from nearby cars rushed to her aid, and continued watching as first responders got on scene and assessed her. Her hope dwindled as they tried to get her stable, and soon after she saw her own body get covered in a white sheet and knew that all hope was lost. She was well and truly dead. One thought then came to her.

“What happens now? Where do I go and how do I get there? How much time do I have left before something happens to me? Am I trapped here? Who would take care of my cat?”

Her questions were endless, but there were no readily available answers, no status screens or booming voices from the gods. Nothing like what happened to protagonists in the webtoons and manga she loved reading in her free time. Which reminded her- if she died now, she would never get to know the ending of her favorite series! It was this thought that seemed to open a torrent of emotions within her. Fear, sadness, regret, stress, and so many other emotions raced through her and she was overwhelmed.

Crunching in on herself, she squatted to the floor and placed her head between her knees. Or at least, she tried to. She realized that even in ghost form she was not very bendy and that led to another choked sob as she desperately took heaving breaths in an effort to calm down. It was as she was finally starting to regain her breath and some semblance of control that things began to change. It started off slowly, as a tingling that started at her toes and slowly spread across her body, encasing her in what felt like a pins and needles blanket. As she started to study herself for answers to the bizarre sensations, she realized that she had started to float.

She was currently about 6 inches off the ground, but she was slowly moving up even as she watched, the ground falling away and the feeling buzzing around her increasing. Her fingers were starting to fade and she was becoming more and more see through.

“Is this it?” She thought uneasily, “Do I just float and fade away into nothing?”

It was as she was having this thought, and watching the clouds surround her that she suddenly felt the air move. It was hard to describe but it seemed like the very atmosphere seemed to be moving around something that was still out of sight. She scanned around her for any signs of what it could be, and turned just in time to catch a mass flying towards her at breakneck speed. Screaming in terror at the immediate revival of what felt like “Truck-kun 2,” the girl only had enough time to raise her hands up protectively before whatever object rocketing through the sky collided with her and everything once again went dark.

When the woman began to wake, she knew instantly that something was different. She quickly sat up, her head pounding- and wait, pounding? She was dead wasn’t she? How could she have a headache if she was dead? Looking around her, she realized that she was nowhere near where she had seemingly died moments before. She was sitting in a clearing in a forest, bright green grass beneath her, and unfamiliar sounds reaching her from beyond the treeline. She scanned herself for any of the grievous injuries she had seen on her body after the crash, but found only deep scars in the places that had been punctures and cuts before.

It was midday, the suns directly overhead in the bright blue sky-

“Suns?,” She asked herself, “That can’t be right, I must be seeing things…”

She checked the sky again, and sure enough, two suns sent their warm beams down on her from high above. Despite the bright beams, she felt as if there was ice in her veins, her whole body covered in chills. She was suddenly hit with the realization that she was no longer on Earth. She once again found herself hyperventilating before a sudden noise drew her attention and she realized that another person was also lying in the clearing. Hearing a grunt from the outline of the person, she crawled her way over to him in search of possible answers about what had happened to her.

She reached who she could now tell was a male, who had sat himself up and had his back to a tree, grunting in pain as he rolled his left shoulder and clutched it with his right hand. He was wearing a blue/grey tunic and leather armor on his torso, and black breeches. A sword was attached on his left side, and he looked up at her as she approached, a wary look on his face. Now able to see his face, she was surprised that he was unnaturally attractive. With silver hair that gleamed in the light, blue eyes that seemed to pierce right through her, and tanned skin that seemed to glow in the midday sun. She had never seen a man so handsome before, and she found herself scared to reach out to him, especially considering the fact that he was armed.

Hesitantly, she called out to the stranger, “Hey there, sorry, are you ok? Do you need help?”

She was not sure if he could understand her, as he simply scanned her up and down and then tilted his head, as if unsure what to make of her. She slowly sat in front of him, both hands held up to show she meant no harm, close enough to try and check his injuries but not close enough for him to get her with his sword if he tried. Seeing red starting to peek through his tunic on his right side, her eyes widened and she realized that he was more wounded than she had previously thought.

Meeting his wary eyes once more, she asked, “You are injured, can I help check your injuries? I am CPR certified.”

Once again he said nothing, merely looked at her through his silver lashes. He seemed to be listening, his eyes would drift to her mouth when she spoke and then back up to his eyes, but no words came from his mouth. Only an intense stare that reminded her very much of a predator’s gaze, like those T-rex videos that had been circulating around lately. She slowly inched forward, shuffling in the dirt while being sure to keep her hands up and looking as unthreatening as possible. When she got close enough, she reached forward with a single hand and carefully pulled the ripped fabric aside, showing a large and deep gash in the stranger’s side. She knew if she didnt work fast, that his odds of survival were only going to decrease.

She quickly got up and began searching for anything that could be of use to them. She spotted a pack lying next to the man, one strap still strung around his left shoulder. Gesturing to the lump, she mimicked taking the bag and searching through it, and he slowly nodded. He leaned the slightest bit forward, wincing as it pulled at the gash on his side, but he was able to get far enough from the tree he was on to allow her to carefully pull the strap off his shoulder and pull the bag out from behind him. Prize in hand, she quickly opened it up to see that it seemed to contain camping supplies and other objects she didn’t recognize by sight. What she did not see however, was any sort of medical bag or first aid supplies. Sighing, she put away the items she had pulled out but purposely put a small metal pot on top. She planned to use it shortly.

Gesturing to the man to stay put, which earned her a look that just screamed,”Duh, do I look like I can move?” She carefully made her way to the tree line that surrounded the clearing and listened for any sounds of running water. After listening closely in different spots, she eventually heard the slight sounds of water flowing and followed it into the forest. Picking up a rock that was nearby, she used it to scratch arrows pointing back the way she came, that way she could reduce her risks of getting lost. After walking for about 10 minutes she stumbled upon a river.

The water was clear and she could see the rocks and river plants along the bottom of it. If she had to guess, she estimated that it was probably around 4 feet deep, and would come up to roughly around her armpits. As tempted as she was to drink several handfuls of water, she knew it was risky to do so. She had no clue what the water contained in terms of bacteria and knew that despite how clean and fresh it looked, she could get seriously sick if she was too trusting of the water. She walked along the river bank in the direction of the setting suns, which in her world would have been west. After not seeing what she was looking for she went back the way she came until she saw her arrows leading into the woods and kept walking past them to what she presumed was east.

After a short trek along the curving banks, listening to the sounds of the water flowing past and the scurrying of unseen creatures fleeing from her, she came across something of interest. It was an offshoot of the river, the water branching off into a large eddy. Grabbing some nearby leaves she tossed them into the river and saw them enter into the eddy at a steady speed where they circled lazily around the eddy before rejoining the river. The eddy itself was tucked into an alcove, the treeling of the forest at some point having gone up and around this clearing, meaning the eddy was met with the river that fed it on one side and a natural wall of dirt on the other three sides, with a large clearing in between the two. This was perfect.

They were going to need water to survive and someplace with better cover than just a random clearing in the forest, and this place had both. Now she just had to figure out how to get her new-friend? Companion? Either way, she needed to get him to this safer spot and get a proper camp set up. Looking around she gathered some decent sized branches and a couple handfuls of twigs and set them in the center of the clearing and out into the sun so they could dry out a bit. She remembered that dried wood burned better, but for some reason she couldn’t remember why she knew that, or who had taught her that.

Now was not the time to figure this out however, so she shook her head and after checking the position of the sun decided if she was going to get him moved she’d better head back now. With his injuries they were going to have to move slowly and she really wanted to get them into cover now, before darkness fell and they were left to the mercy of the unprotected clearing. With that thought in mind, she began working her way back to her partner in survival, following the scratched arrows to him and quickly making her way over to him.

Thinking back to her earlier attempts to contact him verbally, she figured it might be time for a different approach. Waving her hand in front of his face to get his attention, she did her best not to flinch when his piercing eyes wandered over to meet her gaze. With one eyebrow raised he waited for her to continue with whatever she was attempting to do. Seeing he was focused on her now, she brought one hand up and laid it flat palm up, the other she brought above it, and using her index and middle fingers, mimicked walking on her flat palm. She then pointed with the hand she had been using to “walk” between the two of them, did the walking motion again, and pointed to the direction she had found their soon to be shelter.

He watched the motions carefully, and with a mostly emotionless face, marred only by a tightness around his eyes from pain, he nodded to indicate that he understood. Well that was a relief for her for sure. This meant that he might not understand her language but he understood her with body language at the very least. Grabbing his satchel containing the only belongings they had, she slung it over her shoulder and put the lump behind her so it wasn’t in her way. Then, she reached out an arm to the man who was still sitting and beckoned at him by waving her hand in a motion that meant come here. He reached a hand out and grabbed hers in a firm grip and with a pull she leaned back away from him and somehow managed to help him up, though she wasn’t sure how because he was heavy.

Once he was on his feet, he swayed a bit, and she kept her arms held out to catch him just in case he started to fall again. After taking a second to steady himself, the man took one step with his right foot and started to fall to the ground, bent over in pain. The woman quickly threw his right arm over her shoulder and began to carry some of his weight, and they began the slow trek to their destination. She made sure to watch him for any signs of the injury getting worse or for the pain to be high enough for a break. His brow was furrowed in pain, and his teeth clenched, but he did not indicate to stop, so onwards they continued. When they reached the river she could see the sweat forming on his brow and knew that a similar moisture was gathering on her’s.

As much as she wanted to stop, she knew that it would be hard for her to get him moving again if they were to stop now. As if sensing her reluctant urge to keep moving, her companion tore his gaze away from the cheerful water and to the path ahead. It was obvious where she had walked previously, the grass flattened where she had been walking about previously during her exploration.

When that one friend notices that pain you tried so hard to hide,

When they took the effort to see that you've cried.

That friend that cares so much they will seem to stop time,

To make sure that you are okay, that are truly well and fine.

That friend that seems to always know exactly what you need,

Whether its a phone call or a hug, like some knight on their steed.

They show up in pj's with takeout in hand,

Uncaring of the time of day or night, just willing to understand.

That one friend is like a pillar, strong and firm,

Always a steady hand ready to reaffirm.

Ready to hold back hair or give a firm squeeze,

Ready to give soup or medicine for every cough and wheeze.

They will not look down on you from up above,

But crawl with you through the trenches and in the mud.

They will walk the sharp path, and step on every sharp stone,

All just to make you feel less alone.

And when the storm has passed and the sky is clear,

You will look to your side to see that friend still near.

They will look back at you tired and worn,

Their face and clothes just as battered and torn.

And yet despite the battle that you have just overcame,

They are there still, with their smile still the same.

For they knew that the journey would be hard,

But for them you were worth it, worth every step and yard.

And in that moment when the clouds have cleared and the sun shines once more,

You look to see them still there, where they will stay forever more.

And in that moment a laugh starts to come through,

And this laugh is a true laugh from deep within you.

For that friend is with you until the very end,

And that very true laughter thanks to that friend.

Queen Eloise was very excited to be with her friend, Queen Evangeline. It was not often that they could travel to see each other, their swollen bellies and feet a hindrance to carriage travel, on top of overprotective husbands.

"Lu, my dearest friend, how are things going?"

Queen Evangeline was worried about her friend. She had been hesitant to allow her visit, her friend nearing her expected date and she herself not too far away herself. Her midwife and handmaidens were always at the ready, knowing their little royal heir-to-be would soon be arriving.

"Eva dearest, I'm quite alright. Theo had the doctors check me

four times before we left and your husband had me checked a fifth

time upon my arrival if you do not remember!"

The exasperation was clear in her voice, the overprotectiveness over her sister and husband driving her crazy. Eloise knew better than to continue to push the subject, her friend was as stubborn as they came, and if she wanted to see her there was no force in their lands that could stop her. Leaming back in her favorite padded chair, she let herself sigh as she rearranged herself. Her belly ached and she was excited to finally meet her child.

“How are you doing Lu? Your belly is as large as a pumpkin!”

Evangeline was also worried about her dearest friend but knew acting concerned would only heighten the stress the other was feeling. She had been making jokes about their bellies and their husbands the entire pregnancy, and it had helped them both to keep calm and avoid too much stress. The doctors had been quite clear- unneeded stress could trigger an early and dangerous labor, and the kings had not taken the warning lightly.

“I’m fine, the baby kicks quite often now and if the bruising I am sure I have on the inside of my ribs is any indication I feel like the baby is a strong boy. What about you? Any idea of the gender for your baby?”

Eloise was certain she had a boy, but she was also curious about her friend's feelings on the topic. She was surprised when a small warm smile graced Evangeline’s face. Evangeline turned from where she had been standing by Eloise to walk to the window and look at the sunset as it graced the room with a gentle warmth and a fierce red and purple light. She placed her hand on her protruding belly and replied, “I think that my baby is a gentle baby girl. The little one rarely kicks and for some reason I feel like the spirits above have granted me a sweet and adorable baby girl.”

Eloise smiled in reply and both sat content for a while watching the sun as it slowly sank below the horizon. As the colors faded and the cool night breeze swept across the garden outside, the two pondered their lives and what the lives of their children would be like. Both had already agreed many years ago that they would be the godmothers to each other’s children, and their husbands the godfathers and that fact had not changed in recent years.

“Eva-”

“Lu-”

Both stared at the other for a second as they realized they had spoken at the same time, before bursting into laughter and giggling like the girls they had been years before.

“You go first Eva!” Eloise was curious about what her sister had to say,

“Well,” She started hesitantly, “You know how we were talking about whether our children would be boys or girls?”

“Yes?” Eloise was curious to see where her counterpart was going with this.

“Say…what if we each are correct and have a boy and a girl. If that happens maybe we can be family for real! What if our children get married? Then we can unite the kingdoms and live and rule from one palace and then we can be together as much as we want! Wouldn’t that just be amazing!? Oh Lu, we should tell our husbands tonight at dinner about this and see what they-” Evangeline was suddenly cut off from her increasingly fast rant by a hand covering her mouth from behind. Turning she saw Eloise covering her mouth with an eyebrow raised and a small smirk on her face.

“Breathe Eva! Take a breath and slow down. Where did this come from?” Eloise had not even considered the idea of their children potentially marrying but hearing the idea certainly had piqued her interest.

“Well just think about it! If we had a boy and girl each, we could unite our kingdoms and be one whole family! Not to mention the logistical nightmare we currently have with our citizens intermingling and laws overlapping would be solved! We could rewrite all the laws at once and make everything easier for the kids in the long run!” Evangeline was clearly excited by this prospect, and she had to admit she was as well. It would certainly be beneficial to everyone in the long run.

“Why don’t we run the idea by them tonight? But don’t forget- this all rides on our guesses being right or at least reversed! If they end up being the same gender we will have to try again with more children or wait until the next generation,” Eloise reminded Evangeline.

She didn’t want her to get her hopes up too high just for them to be wrong and have to deal with the sadness of that. That or the potential refusal of the idea by their spouses. They were both from long lines of royal descent, their families ruling for centuries. The founding families' countries were named after the family, hence the similarity between the names of the royal families and their countries. They might not want to merge their countries after having built such astounding legacies.

It was while they were discussing this potential arrangement that a knock sounded at the door. With a call, Eloise beckoned whoever was there to open the door. The door opened to reveal one of her lady-in-waiting, who then informed them that it was time for supper and that they should begin to work their way down to the dining hall. With a glance both women exited the room with their arms linked, and slowly began to walk towards their meal and spouses. It was definitely going to be a dinner to remember.

It could not often be said that Kingdoms coexisted peacefully together in the history lore. Countries tended to go to war for resources or territory, and alliances could be formed and forgotten within a generation, all on the whims and power plays of those above. It was not uncommon for countries to even use marriages and adoptions of key nobles and royal families to unite their countries or factions. One notable outlier to this apparent trend was the alliance between the Romalis Kingdom and the Monastalis Kingdom.

Ruled for generations by reliable and wise rulers, the two kingdoms worked together to slowly grow their Kingdoms until both had reached enormous proportions. The current generation of rulers of both countries were indeed good friends, having been raised together as friends and allies. Their childhoods had consisted of trips to each other's castles and socialization between the two during social events.

As Princes, Prince Gregorus Romal and Prince Theodoracius Monasta had attended tutoring and classes at the prestigious Academy together and had been fast friends. The two had eventually fallen in love with esteemed ladies from their respective countries and proceeded to woo their loves. Not only were the girls perfect matches for their men, but they were also very close to each other, even going so far as to refer to each other as “sister.” Their parents were overjoyed by the news and each country had grand celebrations to enjoy the union of these couples.

Soon the two couples had become Kings and Queens and continued to rule as fair and just as their parents before them had, guided by the retired royal's wisdom and experience. Shortly after the people of both kingdoms rejoiced as word spread that the two Queens were pregnant. By this point, the citizens of the two countries were very intermingled, and considered people from the other country to be their “sister” or “brother” countrymen.

Both countries used the same currency and language and had similar cultures and beliefs. Therefore, when news broke out of the two Queens conditions, the people wondered if maybe the two countries would have a chance to unite. Every dress shop and cafe became a source of gossip about the possible gender of the babies and the outcomes of their birth. Men in the field and in the government alike debated the likelihood of each gender for the babies and made deals and bets to reflect their thoughts. It was during this exciting time that everything began…

When I close my eyes,

I find myself back in time,

When I close my eyes,

I lose myself in thoughts divine.

When I close my eyes,

I think back on my life,

When I close my eyes,

I remember all of the strife.

When I close my eyes,

I see how I've grown,

When I close my eyes,

I think of what I've known.

When I close my eyes,

I reflect within,

When I close my eyes,

I feel my life once again, begin.

It started off as a casual observation here and there. It was always something like a streetlight turning on right as I approached, a test I hadn't studied for being cancelled the day of, meeting a new friend by accidently bumping into them, little things like that. I didn't think much of it at the time, and I certainly had no idea what those little chances would lead to for me and for the world.

It started off (as cliche as it sounds) just like any other day when I followed my parents onto the plane. We were finishing up our Winter Break vacation and I couldn't wait to be back home and relaxing with my family. It was a bit too chaotic at the airport for my tastes, as many other families were also waiting at the gates for our plane to begin loading passengers. I pushed back my long dark brown hair, grunting in frustration. My hair was very thin, but I had a lot of it, and it served as a nuisance more often than not.

I looked over to my father who was checking the latest football game scores on his phone. He had a fantasy football team and always checked the scores without fail, and judging from the look on his face, his team was definitely not doing as well as he had hoped early that day. I decided I would ask him about the rest of our travel plans so I wasn't confused when we landed at the next airport for our connecting flight.

"Hey Dad, I have a question for you. Got a sec'?" Dad looked up as I spoke, a small smile spreading across his face as he regarded me.

"Hey, Honey Bunches, what's up?" That was one of his pet names he had for me, and as embarrassing as it was to be called that when I was with my friends, when it was just us it made me feel special to have that relationship and connection with him.

"What's the plan for when we reach the next airport? Do we have time in-between or are we gonna have to make a mad dash to the next gate?" I was curious because although our airport experiences so far had been more relaxed and unrushed thanks to my mom's expert booking skills, I felt that our luck had to run out at some point.

"I as your father have always promised to not lie to you, if possible," Dad's face turned serious as he said this, placing the back of his hand to his forehead and leaning back dramatically, "but unfortunately for us, it's gonna be as fast as molasses in the winter!"

I stared at him for a second and opened my mouth to respond, but before a sound had even left my mouth, my father continued, "I'm kidding kiddo, we actually are gonna have to sprint as fast as we can to the next plane as the flight times are gonna be really close."

I closed my mouth and laughed, knowing that my father had a flair for the dramatics and deciding that we would probably have to make sure not to lag at the airport and to get to the next gate as quickly as possible but probably not full on racing like in the movies that played on the TV.

My mother had taken a trip to the bathroom and returned as we bickered back and forth over who was slower of the two of us.

"Alright kids, that's enough. You both know I'm the quickest!" My dad and I both dropped our jaws and made the same disbelieving face before looking at each other and bursting in laughing fits. Mom joined in and we were just about to start back at it again when they announced that they would now start boarding passengers.

Fighting now not important, we grabbed our gear and got into line. The group we were flying with was very diverse. I heard a family behind me speaking in what might have been Chinese and a large family in front of me was discussing something quickly amongst themselves in what was most likely Spanish. The group was eager to get on and everyone began getting everything figured out quickly.

As my turn to approach neared, my nerves began to stir. For all of my previous flights all of my family had sat in the same row together, but for this flight, the airline had experienced a freak glitch in their system, and no one could book group tickets. As a result of everyone trying to buy tickets for this flight at the same time, many families were split up and spread all over the plane, and ours was no different.

A large part of me was scared I would be sitting next to some creepy old person or a really annoying small kid who would cry. I checked my ticket seat row and number again and stepped onto the plane. I slowly walked through the plane and when I got to my row, I found a kid from the large Latino family in front of me was sitting in the window seat. He looked up as I stopped, and I showed him that my seat was next to his by showing him my ticket. He glanced at it, looked at the seat, and then with a wide smile pat the seat in a "Welcome here," kind of gesture.

I smiled back at him and then placed my bag in the compartment above and sat down next to him. People continued by, and soon enough a girl stopped at our row. Both the boy and I were looking out the window, but the click of the overhead compartment drew our attention. The girl was also around our age and said something in a language that sounded like Chinese and then showed us her ticket, informing us she was our last seatmate. We looked at each other, then both gave her a smile and gestured to the seat. She smiled back and sat down.

Even though none of us could understand each other, we were all happy that by chance we had gotten what seemed to be nice seat mates for our trip. The rows in the front and back continued to fill and soon everyone was boarded and awaiting takeoff. The engines roared and the plane pushed back from the airport. The airplane turned and taxied to the runway where it paused.

I always got nervous when planes began to takeoff because the sudden lurch in my stomach made me shiver in fear. As the plane engines roared, I heard a small gasp from both sides of me. I glanced to either side and noticed that both of my row mates appeared to be just as nervous, if not more so, than I was. I slowly reached my hands out to each of theirs which had death grips on their seats and gripped them in my own. They both jumped at the touch and looked at me.

We looked back and forth at each other, communicating through our eyes that we were feeling the same thing, and leaned back into our seats. As the plane took off, we kept a firm grip on each other, and it was a surreal experience because I felt comforted by the touch even if I didn't know who these other kids were.

The plane eventually got to its cruising speed and leveled off and we let go of each other's hands. The flight after that was uneventful. We all had earbuds in and were playing games or watching movies while the plane continued to soar through the air. Suddenly a load roar filled the cabin, and a thick fog filled the air. Everything not tied down begin to fly through the air and a horrific wind whipped through the cabin. I loved planes and learning about them and this seemed to be what was called an explosive decompression. Panicking, the air stewardesses began to suddenly yell above the wind that everyone needed to try and move to the front of the plane if possible.

Confused we all looked around and tried to figure out what the problem was and as I glanced towards the back of the plane my blood ran cold. There was a giant hole a row or two behind us and it appeared to be slowly growing and creeping towards us. The other passengers further back quickly unbuckled and keeping a grip on the seats around them began moving up the plane.

As we waited for our row to go, I felt a hand grip mine. I jumped a bit and turned to see the boy had reached for my hand. I gripped his hand back and felt my other hand reach out on its own to grab the hand of the girls once more. She squeezed my hand back and I felt reassured that we would be ok and that we had each other to rely on.

The pilots had sent the plane into a steep dive as soon as the explosion hit the plane, racing to get everyone to a breathable level before everyone began to have trouble breathing. This had also meant that everyone trying to get away from the explosion basically fell towards the front of the plane and it made the evacuation go much quicker. It was finally our turn and we all squeezed hands once more and began filing out of our row together. Right as the boy left our seat row the plane gave a shudder.

By chance, no turbulence or shaking had occurred, but by some stroke of bad luck, the plane suddenly lurched and sent the three of us falling back towards the giant hole in the side of the plane. We screamed as we stumbled, and although other passengers desperately tried to grab onto us, one more erratic swing sent the three of us falling out of the plane and towards the water below. I screamed as we raced towards the ocean that was much closer than I had thought. With a start I realized that the other's hands were still in mine, and they were also screaming as we fell. I couldn't believe what was happening to us and as we fell, I simply had one thought flying through my mind.

What were the odds I would die like this?

As my world burned and the sky filled with smoke and the smell of death, I came into life with a cry. What the war had violently taken away from the survivors, the world brought back to them in miracles and salvations. I was what everyone had thought to be lost- a sign that life could begin anew- that a Phoenix would rise again!

Mama always told me to give 'em one good kick,

Nana always told me to lay it on thick,

Daddy always told me to give 'em a nick,

Bro always told me to make my hit stick.

So when I went to party that night,

I kept that advice close,

And when that idiot called me his special light,

I aimed my kick fairly high- just under his nose.

I felt his face resist,

Felt his body go slack,

I felt his teeth give in,

And the sounds of clack clack clack!