Interview with the Man from the Sea: Songs of Life

>chair scoots on the floor
"Okay, are we ready Mr. Robinson?"
>cough
"I am."
"Would you please like to tell me what happened to you? What is was that you had gone through?"
"You make it sound like it was a complete nightmare like that."
"Was it?"
>silence
>some movement
"Mr. Alan, I'm going to tell you a story. One that no man has ever had the experience of knowing nor would he ever like to. But, nonetheless, it happened; it is the Truth."
"Well, Mr. Robinson I'd like for you to start at what had caused your plane to-"
>raised voice
"I will start where ever I damn well please, Mr. Alan. You are going to sit back and listen. Is that clear?"
>pause
"Go ahead, Mr. Robinson."

----

My name is Calvin Robinson. I was on a flight from a conference in France to Florida, US. I work for a travel agency, surprisingly enough, and was actually thinking about the amount of time off I had acquired just before our plan went down.

It was some form of engine failure, as one of the right wing engines was fuming our the back and sent the plane diving down as a somewhat, steep slope into the Atlantic. The ride was anything but fun. By the time of impact, the rear of the plane had loped itself off and fell in the waters beside the main body.

I some how woke up inside my seat, still tightly bound by the seat belts and oxygen mask. By some sheer chance of a few pieces of broken glass floating by, I had managed to free myself from the seat and found a pocket of air above the hull of first class. Again, to my luck, the metal carcass had hardly began to fully sink into the murky depths. The body of the plane had gingerly snapped in two when it first began to settle in the ocean, giving me a means of escape out of the pit of my seating, but not for long.

As the plane continued to sink, I found a toppled over closet room on my way up the last remains of the plane, and inside found my salvation in the form of a school bus-yellow raft. Just as my standing was beginning to disappear, I had pulled the trigger string on the raft and quickly made my way into it as the hulking ship was swallowed by the dark waters of the sea. A narrow escape at best.

But now, I was worse off than before: adrift in the realm of unknown without food not water. Some of my luck had come back to me, as there had been a few people's possessions that had floated up to the surface along with me: some bags, clothes, and nick knacks of the like, but a few things of use.

And there I sat in a raft, just sitting there with nothing left to do but to fear for what was left of my life. I had no spouses or girlfriends at the time, how could I when I was often traveling. My parents were long since gone in some Florida cemetery, and my brother was off God knows where. So, it wasn't like I had much to leave behind.

The day turned into night, my time mostly spent on trying to fish with just a metal pole and determination. That didn't end so well as it could've, me trying to find fish at the very top of the water. I looked like some idiot.

Hungry and fruitless of my attempt to fish, I fell asleep that night, cold by the winds of the breezy ocean. The only thing to keep me warm were a small pile of faintly wet clothes that I'd gathered.

On the second day, I was more proactive in my quest for food and commenced a plan. By ripping a few shirts up into strips and making a rope about 10 or so feet, I tied myself to the raft and dropped into the water. The salt stung like a bitch, but after a few tries, I could deal with it. With a metal railing rod that found it's way to the surface, I had planned to use it like a spear and impale the fish, but even with my new depth of hunting, there was not a single one in sight.

But going down into the sea, gave me a new perspective of my predicament. It wasn't just the open horizon and the endless blue sky I had to focus on, nor was it the hot sun. It was that I had a whole world underneath me.

Let me tell you, that gives you one hell of a perspective.

Once more without food, I climbed back into the raft, shaken by my sudden realization of the world around me.