The blistering hot sun woke me from my peaceful slumber. I sat up confused and dazed, and began looking around me. The sight made my stomach do cartwheels. Bodies were spread out across the ground, and the remains of a plane scattered as far as I could see. I had no idea how long I was unconscious, or even what day it was. I checked my pockets and tried to find my phone. In my attempt to turn it on, I only recieved an error screen. Getting up from the ground, I began analyzing my body for any major cuts or broken bones. Upon discovering only a few bumps and bruises, relief ran through me. As I began walking to the plane crash, the sight before my eyes ripped my heart into shreds. My wife and children lay on the ground before me, stone-cold and lifeless. I began shaking them and tried everything in my power to wake them up, but it was no use. I held them for what seemed like years before making a pact with myself to find a way back home. I kissed my wife and children’s forehead before getting up and trudging forward. As I gathered myself, I began scanning through my brain for a mental checklist. My first priority was to check the plane and see if there was any food or water. I knew nothing about survival, but from the survival shows that air on t.v, finding food and water was difficult without proper training. Picking up my duffel bag from the remains of the crash, I kept only the things that were crucial to my escape. Since i wanted to pack lightly, I kept my socks, a shirt, a pair of jeans, a pair of shorts, toothbrush, toothpaste and underwear. Looking around for food, i decided to go to the pilot's quarters. Seeing the pilot's condition made my stomach turn upside down. His death seemed seeded to be the slowest. The steering wheel was lodged deep into his chest, and blood was everywhere. Knowing I had to tough it out and push away the queasiness, I searched around for food. Much to my surprise, there was MRE’s under the pilot’s control panel. I took the MRE’s, made a small prayer for the pilot and his family, and searched for anything else that might come in handy. During my search, something reflected off of the sunlight and caught my attention. When I looked over at the glare, I noticed it was a belt buckle. Since it was a rather large man, i debated whether or not it was worth violating him to get it off. Against my better judgement, I put my bag down and attempted to pry it off of the belt. After a lot of strenuous pulling, I finally pried it off. The belt buckle was nicely sized, round, and filled my whole hand. It was a belt buckle that only a rich man would seem to wear, except for the fact that it says “Thug Life” in large print. I slipped it into my back pocket and started for the jungle. As I turned to say goodbye, I walked over to my family and kissed them on the forehead one last time. As i walked into the unforgiving jungle, I cried because I knew my life was going to change forever. I knew that I somehow had to make it out alive, I owed my family that much. I needed to tell the families of the plane crash victims what had happened to their loved ones.

Having no experience in the jungle, i thought about my mental checklist. My second priority was to find some sort of shelter. I walked aimlessly into the puzzle of the jungle and looked for a nice place to make a shelter. Since it was getting dark, I decided to sleep somewhere tonight and set out for civilization tomorrow. I eventually came across a hollowed tree and set my bag down beside it. I inspected the tree for any signs of poisonous or dangerous animals. After deciding that it was safe, i set my bag inside of the tree. Thinking of the next step, i began emptying my pockets. As i reached down into my back pocket, an idea came across me. I took out the buckle and began analyzing the edges. Since i needed a fire to make it through the night, i decided to use the buckle as a substitute for an axe. I set out to find the smallest tree, still keeping mental note of where my campsite was. Finding the smallest tree, i began swinging my buckle at it. I was impressed with the amount of work i’d managed to do on the small tree. Within a few minutes, the tree began falling down. As I carried it back to the campsite, I examined the plethora of trees for another small one. As i set the tree down, an obstacle dawned on me: I had no idea how to make a fire. I tried rubbing small sticks together to start a spark, but that didn’t work. I kept trying anything else i could think of. Since I was getting stressed, I instinctively reached down into my pockets for a cigarette. To much disappointment, I remembered I had taken them out because the airport security didn’t allow it. Defeated, I sat down and tried to make a new plan. An epiphany rushed over my and i quickly reached into my sock. I remembered hiding a lighter and two smokes in my sock so i could pass security. Due to my excessively bad habit, my sneakiness finally didn’t backfire. Pulling out my lighter and smokes, i found a small pile of leaves and set them on fire. Carefully picking up the leaves, I set them on the tree bark and waited for the fire to grow. Knowing I should save my cigarettes for when I really needed them, I carefully set them in my bag where they wouldn’t break.

[End of part 1]