Hijacked

By HLin



"Sir, what would you like to have for your dinner?" The hospitable air stewardess greeted me politely, handing me the menu. I flipped through the menu, unable to decide on which set of meal to choose. Lamb chop, steak, mutton, fish.... chicken! I smiled to myself as I imagine myself sinking my teeth into the tender skin of the chicken.. how nice it would be! "Sir?" I was jolted out of my reverie when the air stewardess asked again. "Roasted chicken please," I said, returning her the menu and continued to rest on my comfortable seat. I couldn't wait to reach America. I was the representative for Singapore for the annual Sky-diving competition, a highly dangerous yet exciting sport.

An aroma of roasted chicken wafted into my nose. The smell was heavenly. Minutes later, the air stewardess served my meal. The sight of it made me drool and I immediately grabbed my cutleries and started to eat. I savoured every moment in this 'business class' plane, but little did I know that danger was lurking in it.

"Excellent!" I muttered to myself, smacking my lips at the same time. I rubbed my belly. "How wonderful it is to be in this plane," I thought and drifted away to my dreamland.

"Aarrh! Aarh!" Incessant cries jolted me out of my dream. What happened? I scanned around. The full impact of what I was seeing hit me. A masked man was pointing a gun at a petite lady. Everyone's eyes were on them, fear written across their faces. An old man was quavering like a leaf. The lady beside me was stupified. I looked at the masked man and the petite lady again. I could see a glint of panic in her eyes although she looked very composed. "What are you trying to do?" She asked, her mouth quavering. " Oh girl, don't worry," the masked man paused, his eyes scanned around the plane and he pointed at the passengers in the plane,"but, if anyone of the people here follows us, that person would perish," he said and emphasized on the word 'perish' as if he enjoyed the word rolling over his tongue. What was happening and who was the masked man? Why was everybody afraid? Was he a murderer? A psycho? Or a homicide killer? Or... a hijacker? I shook in fear as the 9/11 incident flashed across my mind. What is the date today? "9,10...11..11!" Exactly 9/11! Oh no! Why did I board this plane today? I must be out of my mind! Why didn't I count the date before I bought this ticket? "Calm down, John, you might be just imagining things," I told myself. I asked the man in front of me what had happened. He stuttered, "He..He..He.. s..said..that..he..is..O..Osa...Osama!" I froze. Did I hear wrongly? Osama? The world's most wanted, most notorious terrorist? Wasn't he the one involved in the 9/11 incident? I couldn't believe my ears. Terrorists! Osama would definitely kill everyone in the plane. That would be horrible.

Suddenly,the plane began to shake violently, sending plates and cups flying in all directions. I was assaulted by the flying shrapnel of a plate and a deep cut seared across my leg instantly. The lights in the plane began flickering. What now? I knew I had to act fast if I wanted my life. However, I must save everybody's life too! Getting to my feet, I raced to the cockpit, only to see the petite lady shot in the heart. I looked around. The pilot and Osama were fighting for the control to steer the aeroplane. "Get away!" Osama shouted and pushed the pilot aside, but the latter was unrelenting. He got onto his feet and tried to regain control. Seeing this, I leapt onto Osama and shove him off the pilot's seat and he fell onto the ground. Taking advantage of his temporary disability, the pilot quickly steered the areoplane. Scrambling to his feet, Osama flung me a well-aimed punch and I fell backwards and hit the metal wall behind. "My spine!" I groaned as an excruciating pain coursed through my entire body. Osama also showed no mercy to the pilot too. He knocked the pilot down and steered the plane. I lunged at Osama again but he was not hurt. Instead he grinned. I could see a maniac glint in his eyes now. He began to rain punches on me but I ducked and quickly escaped from him.

The plane rocked even more violently now as the plane was descending. I knew everyone on the plane was doomed. Screams filled the plane and soon everything we saw outside the window became blurred. "Hahaha!" I could hear the laughter of Osama a few metres away. My eyes widened as I felt the plane plunging down with its nose pointing at the ground. Everything was thrown sideways in the plane. I gasped. I knew I had to escape right now. If not, I would die in this plane crash.

I struggled to open the main emergency exit. "Everyone, escape from here!" I shouted but my voice could not be heard over the screams and shouts. I must escape now or there would be no chance after this. I prayed hard as I was unsure if I would survive. I bit my lips and tied a long rope on a long sturdy pole in the plane. Using all my energy, I pushed the door wide open. The distance from where I was to the ground was quite short. I know I must jump know if not I would perish. Closing my eyes, I held the long rope and jumped out of the plane.

I did not dare to open my eyes but I climbed slowly down the rope. I looked downwards. About five more seconds and the plane was going to crash on the land! I quickly jumped to the ground and ran as fast as my legs could carry me. I looked behind. One more second and the plane would land and explode. Carrying my legs forward, I jumped into a pit.

Bomb! The plane exploded into fiery tongues of flames as it crashed into the ground. The flames licked the plane with a vengeance and devoured everything in its path. Pewter grey smoke curled up into the air like a huge ball, vanishing into wisps of smoke. I landed in a pit, a few metres away from the inferno. I hurried to my feet. I had to blink a few times as my vision was now blurred and the world seemed to be whirling around me. I knew it was because of the smoke. I staggered to move forward but I dropped to the ground as the last thin thread of consciousness slipped away and I was swept into oblivion.

I rubbed my eyes. Everything swam before I could open my eyes fully. I scanned the room. Everything around me was white. Where was I? In heaven? "John, you're awake! Don't sit up," my puffy-eyed mother hastily got up and pressed me back on the bed. "What happened, Mummy?" I asked, grinning. "John, I've got a terrible news to tell you. John, you..you can't ...sky-dive now because your spine is too badly hurt." Her sobs escalated into wails and she raced out of my room. It took me a moment to digest what my mother was saying. I shook my head, My mind was a complete blank. I couldn't believe my ears. This was not true! I shook my head. This couldn't be true! Tears cascaded down my cheeks. I couldn't skydive! How could that be? I couldn't give it up! Sky diving was part of my life. I did not want to live any more.

A few days later, this incident was reported in the headlines of the newspaper. I learnt that I was the sole survivor of this ordeal. Actually, the masked man was not Osama but one of his diehard supporters. He became insane later on but did not forget his yearning to become a terrorist like Osama and so hijacked a plane like him. He died in the explosion when the plane crashed.

After much counselling and encouragement from my parents and friends, I found the will to live and took up a hobby-collecting pictures of people skydiving. My love for sky-diving continued and I gained more knowledge of this sport through reading.