The Raft: Chapters 1–6

Jutting out one hip, he rolled his eyes. “Do you want your nose pierced or not?”

Lucky.
If I had a dollar for every time someone called me that, I’d be rich, because that’s all I heard when I told people about my life.
When I told them that I lived on a coral atoll in the middle of the Pacific: Lucky.

When I told them that I hung out among dolphins and monk seals and nesting albatross: Lucky.

She laughed. “For someone who lives on an island, you are the most ocean- aversive person I’ve ever met.”

With my tan, the cornrows looked a little tacky.

That evening at the International Market Place, a collection of booths and shops selling anything and everything, I found a henna tattoo stand where a pretty Hawaiian lady, dark hair to her waist and three rings in her nose, beckoned to me.

So, given I’d already used up my quota of quasi-permanent bodily changes my parents would dislike, I started to look through the book of henna tattoo samples.

Stifling a groan, I faked a smile.

The next morning, after about an hour of instructions, admonitions, and warnings, AJ left for the airport.

Before I went by the pool to read, I washed off the rest of the henna. The turtle was faint orange, but the lady had said it would darken.
And then I carefully doused my new piercing in rubbing alcohol.

With my peripheral vision, I could see him watching me, and I shuffled away a little bit, trying not to be too obvious.

The pilot, Larry, came around the plane, wearing black pants and a short-sleeved white button-down shirt with gold pilot epaulets on the shoulders. Tall with dark hair that never had a strand out of place, he swaggered a bit.

The pilot, Larry, came around the plane, wearing black pants and a short-sleeved white button-down shirt with gold pilot epaulets on the shoulders. Tall with dark hair that never had a strand out of place, he swaggered a bit.

“Yeah, she’s gone today. It’s a mess, especially with communications down at Midway. My new copilot is around here somewhere, trying to make sense of it all. Max. He’ll get you on the manifest. Why don’t you wait inside where it’s cool? I’ll come get you.”

Larry shook me awake. “We’re ready to go.” Then he asked me something about Max and weighing in and paperwork or something.
Still groggy, I just nodded.

All nine rows of the red upholstered seats were chockful of boxes and cargo, except for two seats halfway back, right next to the starboard exit.

All nine rows of the red upholstered seats were chockful of boxes and cargo, except for two seats halfway back, right next to the starboard exit.

Although Larry had said it numerous times, he gave me the emergency safety spiel, pointing out the exits, the compartment that held the emergency raft, the flotation device under my seat.

The engines motored up to full throttle as we stayed there, so it felt as if we were a dog on a leash, raring to go as someone held us back.

The front wheels lifted and we were airborne, lights below us, the steady drone of the engines loud.

The ride was a little turbulent, but I’d been through a lot worse on other flights.

Not as tall as Larry, Max was thinner, rather wiry, and athletic looking.

At my first bite, the plane shuddered and bumped below me, and an especially large lurch shoved my stomach up into my throat.

Out the window were occasional flashes of lightning, but they didn’t illuminate anything except for the rain pelting my window.

A glance up front showed neither Larry nor Max had donned a mask.

All of a sudden, a quick barrage of soft but forceful punches pummeled my head and shoulders, but the assault was over before I could even shriek or fend them off.

All of a sudden, a quick barrage of soft but forceful punches pummeled my head and shoulders, but the assault was over before I could even shriek or fend them off.

Again, I tried to see what they were doing, their demeanor, their attitude.

I felt an overwhelming need for reassurance, for someone to tell me everything would be okay.

The engine was probably the first thing to go, then a wing or the tail or some other vital thing that we need to land.