It was stormy out and I was really thankful to be encompassed by the safe inner wall of the small personal jet plane that I was safely housed in. I was a mere girl at the time, only just 18 and still working at the whole "life" thing. I was preparing for a journey to Africa, where I would be able to put my new found survival skills to the test. You see I was training to become a guide there, someone who could not only help themselves out of any situation, but also be able to help others survive in even the harshest of conditions. I wanted to become a guide someone could count on and depend on to keep them safe, and the only way to test if I was able to do that would to be to go straight in the field. As the plane took off I could see my home town in Pittsburg start to become smaller and smaller until I could hardly see anything through the thick cloud cover that was now an unmeasurable distance below us. It was my first time ever flying, but I wasn't too concerned about that...in fact I found it rather exciting to be able to be doing something new and different for a change. I was a little nervous at first at the thought of traveling to somewhere so far from home, but I got over that feeling very quickly as I mused over all the cool things I would be able to learn in a place like this. Thankfully they had a reserve there that needed help in the guide department, they even went as far to offer me free room and board as well as I very generous salary for an entry level position. All these things together made for a very incredible opportunity, they even went as far as to wave the money for the plane ride it took to get there, so as to even further encourage me to accept...which to no ones surprise I did. It was no secret to my family and close friends that I always wanted to travel to Africa. Some might even go as far as to say I was practically obsessed with it, I did extensive research over it...taking particular interest in its plant and animal life so I would be even a more equipped and knowledgable guide. Thankfully I had packed all the books and resources I would need to make me as up to date as possible, along with various defensive weapons and or animal traps in case the need would arise for one. I also had various other equipment with me, and even some cooking supplies in the case of me getting stranded out in the wilderness somewhere. I was certainly thankful I was traveling alone on this flight...or else others might have falsely assumed I was some type of poacher or something, I mean seriously you try to explain to the airport why you are carry a various variety of about half a dozen bear traps in your cargo. Trust me, it's impossible. That's why my friends back in Africa sprung for the private jet in the first place. Not that this hunk of junk could be called luxurious by any means, but hey beggars can't be choosers, right? Anyway, the operation around here was pretty shady to say the least considering I was going to be flying with an individual pilot and copilot instead of going through the airport...which I highly doubt is legal. Furthermore I strongly suspected that these folks taking me hadn't ever bothered to get an official license...which would have put me at relative unease if I wasn't so desperate to get to my location. So because of this eagerness, I made the possible foolish decision to disregard all this rather troubling information and merely focus on the journey ahead, never could I have realized how naive that actually was.

Several drooling hours later we were now just heading into Africa, and the sights below were breathtaking to say the least, it was beautiful lush wildness as far as the eye could see, and fortunately we were traveling just low enough in order to see what looked like herds of some sort of animal traveling gracefully over the seemingly endless terrain. The only downside is it was now as stormy here and dark here as it was when I left Pittsburg...which was very odd considering how little rain Africa usually received annually. Although it was nighttime here by now, it was still just light enough to make out most things below. As we continued on our course however, the weather became more and more disturbing also making me wonder if the pilot had even bothered to check the forecast before signing off on this flight. I tensed as the thunder began to get louder, soon joined by the occasional lightning strike. The plane began to vibrate a bit, and since only a fabric curtain separated the passenger area from the pilot and copilot's seats, I was able to hear the agitation in their voice as the place lurched more violently forcing me to clench my seat for support. For a while after a tense silence ensued, only to be broken by the beeping of a blaring alarm as the plane hit some massive turbulence once again. By the point I could make out what the pilot was saying...

"Somethings wrong, there's some type of massive magnetic disturbance messing with our instruments, I've lost control!" Shout the pilot as the plane plummeted in an almost vertical nose dive.

I grabbed onto my seat for dear life, not knowing what else to do since this plane was clearly not up to safety protocol. I braced myself as the hard ground approached us at rapid speeds, the curtain now being roughly pushed aside due to the force, giving me a clear view of our situation. Just as we were about to do a nose dive into unforgiving ground however, a deafening snap resounded through the plane as it was hit with a bolt of lightning, and within seconds the I could see the whole back of the plane being surrounded by what looked to be some type of energy field/portal and within moments I felt a sort of pulling sensation as my entire world turned black.

...

Within moments stirred awake in the dusky darkness...I was sure I was a goner as soon as that plane started to go down, but here I was sitting in the back part of the plane completely unharmed. The plane laid flat on the ground as if it was landed there...the entire roof had been torn off leaving no cover for the rain that now slowly soaked my body. I immediately notice the entire front of the plane is gone as well (where the pilot and copilot were) and I have no choice to assume those to didn't survive. I slowly realize the gravity of my situation and get up, having to push a few metal debris aside to escape my seat. The first thing I do is do a damage assessment of my supplies, and amazingly I find almost all my luggage to be at least for the most part intact. I look on as the storm grows in intensity...and gets more and more powerful to an alarming rate. I watch as a dead tree near the plane gets struck by lightning and gets set on fire. I mentally gulp, and stumble out of the plane, for fear it will be the next target. I take this moment to try to survey my surroundings, but all I can make out through the cover of the rain is what I believe to be an outline of a cave off in the distance. I can't say I know how I got to be here, but I know from my survival training staying out in the open is the worst thing you can do in these parts, not to mention the fact I could easily get sick in a storm like this, maybe even catch ammonia. However, no sooner than I had started walking in the direction of the cave, I heard a deafening growl...