Background

Friday, January 6, 2012

At the Mercy of the Storm - Part 2

A Fantastic First Friday of the year to all my Favorite Friday Fiction Fans!
(Alliterations can be such fun.)


I wish you all a Happy New Year even if it is the 6th of January already! Wow, the time sure flies. Now that I'm back home and all the Christmas decorations are put away, I'm trying to get back into writing. And I will admit, it is difficult. Not because I don't have anything to write or because I can't seem to get any story written, it is because I'd much rather read right now. :} Have any of you read the quote on the side of my blog about writing? Well it sure is true! Writing is not just fun. It is work! Most of the time I love it, but there are days when I wish the next part of the story would just appear without me having to write it. But it doesn't so I have to labor and work. Some times things come easily and just flow along, while at other times. But I already mentioned that.


And now here is January's Quiz: How many books do we have in our house? Remember, we do not count cookbooks or songbooks. Here are some helps. But I don't know how many we have yet either.
In 2009 we had 4,011
In 2010 we had 4,262
And in 2011 we had 5,215
It is anybody's guess what we have now. We have gotten rid of books and gotten new ones. So take a guess and then come back next week to find out the answer!


But, lest I leave you hanging too long, here is the rest of last week's story. Enjoy!

At the Mercy of the Storm
Part 2
Rebekah M.

    Slowly Garret opened his eyes and forced his mind to focus. He was lying almost sideways, practically hanging by his safety harness. He could still see the flashes of lightning, hear the rumble of thunder and the rain drumming on-- something. Moving his arms and legs carefully, he undid the harness and sat up. By the light flashes he could see Thad slumped over in the seat beside him. Was he dead?
    “Thad?” Gently Garret placed a hand on his co-pilot’s back. “He’s still breathing, thank God!” he murmured.
    Just then Thad stirred and sat up in a dazed sort of way. “What happened? Where-” He shook his head to clear it. “We crashed. The passengers . . .?”
    “I don’t know,” Garret replied. “I just came to, myself. We need a flashlight. That lightning is too sporadic.”
    For a few minutes, both men fumbled around the cockpit until Thad finally discovered the light. He snapped it on and by its steady beam saw a long gash on Garrett’s arm.
    “I must have cut it on that shattered instrument panel,” Garret surmised. “But,” he added, eyeing Thad, “That cut on your head looks pretty bad.”
    “I’ll be okay for now. Let’s check our passengers.”
    Slowly, carefully Garret and Thad made their way out of the cockpit to the middle of the plane. The light of the flashlight showed four passengers looking rather dazed but otherwise unhurt while the other two were still unconscious. While his co-pilot checked those passengers, Garret pulled out a second flashlight and by its light found the first-aid kit. The remaining passengers who were unconscious slowly came around and cuts and minor injuries were attended to.
    “So, where are we?” asked one of the passengers.
    Garret shook his head, wincing as his injured arm bumped the back of a seat. “I can’t tell you for sure, Ma’am,” he replied. “That first hit of lightning knocked the power out and after that with the winds so strong, it was impossible to tell what direction we were flying.”
    “And I suppose the radio is out too?” a younger man asked.
    Garret nodded. “At least it wasn’t working before we hit the storm. I don’t see why it would work now, but I’ll go check it.”
    Silence fell about the small group as the pilot carefully made his way back to the cockpit to try to send a distress call through the stormy clouds.
    Strongly doubting it would work, Garret prayed as he pulled a headset over his ears and turned the knobs of the radio. Nothing. Everything was dead, not even a hint of static came through no matter how he turned the knobs or fiddled with the wires. At last he gave up and returned to the cabin of the plane.
    “Well,” an older gentleman broke the stillness caused by Garrett’s news, “at least the plane keeps us out of the rain.”
    “True,” a middle-aged woman added, “and it could have burst into flames in the sky.”
    “What a comforting thought,” sneered a grumpy man from a corner. “We could have all died, so we should be glad we are alive.”
    Garret spoke soberly then, “You know, she is right. If the lightning had hit the fuel tank we wouldn’t be here now. We should all thank God for sparing us.”
    “Amen,” echoed a quiet voice from the semi dark plane.
    In tones low but distinct, the older gentleman began to pray. Not as though it was a duty, but as though it were a privilege. Garret, with head bowed was deeply moved by that prayer and when it was over, silence descended once more on the little plane.
    The storm had all but blown itself out and only a light rain now came from the heavens. Leaving the passengers in the plane, Garret and Thad forced the door open and climbed out to take a look at the damages. One wing was crumpled and half buried in the mud, leaving the plane tipped and the wheels mired in mud holes. Surprisingly, that seemed to be all the major damage the small plane had received.

    It was a long night for those eight people on the plane. No one could sleep, for their recent brush with death as well as wondering if they would be found, kept all minds spinning. At last a faint light began to appear in the east.
    “Day is coming!” someone exclaimed softly.
    Then the waiting began. As the sun climbed up from its bed, the passengers, along with their pilot and co-pilot, climbed from the listing plane into the fresh air. It was a clear day with blue sky. Not a trace of the previous night’s storm was to be seen above and only the flattened grass and the damaged plane gave evidence of nature’s fury below. All around them only grass was to be seen. Not a tree, not a fence, not a house. It was hard to wait. Some were for setting off in search of help, but Garret overruled all plans.
    “No,” he declared flatly, “it is more difficult to spot people from the air than it is a plane. Besides, we don’t know which direction to go. The one we choose might be the wrong one. And another thing,” he added, as the grumpy man was about to speak, “there is only a little food and water. By staying here we can conserve it.”
    “Don’t forget,” Thad put in, “the plane also gives us shelter.”
    There was much grumbling among two of the passengers, but it was not two hours later when help arrived.
    First a small plane flew over their heads, turned around and began circling. This was followed shortly by a helicopter which managed to land several yards away. It was with great relief that Garret watched his passengers climb aboard that whirlybird. Now his responsibility for them was over. He sank down exhausted beside his plane with Thad, to wait until another helicopter could come for them.
    “Thad,” Garret remarked quietly after a few moments of silence, “even eagles can break a wing now and then, but it doesn’t mean they can’t soar again.”
    Smiling, Thad replied, “Not if they wait upon the Lord.”
The End

So, what did you think?
Questions or comments?
Don't forget to come back next week for the Grand Total and for the extra special post . . . :)

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great story!

As far as writing goes it's the feedback that makes it worthwhile, is it not?

I just have to guess at the grand total... 5,000 give or take 5,000.
Alright 5,388 is my real guess.

Annot Amos Koward

Rebekah said...

Yes, it is certainly the feedback that helps keep me writing. When I don't get any I wonder if anyone read the story or if it was that bad.

Thanks for your comment, Annot. I look forward to seeing what our book total is.

Angela said...

My guess is 5,773

oh so lovely said...

my guess is 5,897

Grace Mae said...

I guess there are 5,500

Susanna Thornton said...

My guess is you have about 5,350.

Anonymous said...

My guess is 5,117

Christian

Anonymous said...

I'd have to say 5,275.
Noah

Joseph said...

I'd say 5,600. Just how long does it usally take to count them all?

Amber said...

I think you have 5,672 books. :)

Abigail in WI said...

I'm just making a random guess- 6,000!
Elizabeth guesses 5,650.
Caleb guesses 5016.

:) We're wondering how many books we've gotten this year because we got several hundred at least at library sales. :) How long does it usually take you guys to count?

Rebekah said...

WOW! This has got to be a record for guesses. I can't wait until Friday! Thank you all for guessing. It really doesn't take us very long to count. Mom and I each get a piece of paper and a pen and we each start on a room. We did this time in a couple hours at the most.
But more about that on Friday. :)

P.I.C.'s by Breanna said...

Hey Bekah!! Thanks for the reminder to come guess!! =D I know comments are always nice to receive... keeps the blogging and writing more enjoyable. =) Thanks for all of your comments!!

Okay, my guess is going to be 5,813... BTW, you guys have a lot of books!! I should count ours, i wonder how many we have ended up with! =)

Grace Mae said...

Hi Bekah~

I like the new look of your blog. I love hearts, grey and gold together.

Mazzou said...

How fun! One in a while I make a list of all the books I own...I don't think we could do our whole FAMILY'S in a day, though. But maybe that's due to the fact that we load our bookshelves, so you can't see how many books are behind the first ones. Ha ha.

I would guess you have 5, 888 books. I look forward to seeing your count!

Anna @ Feminine Adventures said...

This is late, but I promise I didn't peak! :) I'm guessing 5,400.