SURVIVING
1
Rose sighed happily as the Hindenburg glided into America. It seemed as if they’ve been on the airship forever and at that moment in time, Rose was ready to get off. She glanced over at her sleeping fiancée and smiled. It had been a long trip especially for Jack.
When they had first boarded and Jack
and Rose were alone in their stateroom, Jack told her all that had happened
while they were separated. Rose
listened in horror as Jack told her about his father’s remains being delivered
to him in that small shoebox. Rose
couldn’t understand how the Nazi’s can commit so many horrors and still call
themselves human beings. She had held
Jack as he cried tears that he hadn’t had time to shed before now.
It was so unfair. Jack was more German then she was, yet he
had suffered the most at the hands of the Nazi’s.
“Are we there yet?” Jack woke up,
blinking against the bright light streaming through the window, tightly
clutching the box that held his father’s remains in his hand.
Rose sighed at the sight, surprised
that he had brought the ashes out into the setting area. He had kept them with him ever since they
boarded.
“What?” Jack caught her staring at the
box, his voice a bit defensive.
Her heart melted as she spied the deep
sorrow in his eyes. She just couldn’t
tell him how inappropriate bringing the
ashes out with him were. Rose
shrugged with a blush. “I was just
thinking about how much I love you.”
Jack’s smile was warm with a mixture of
sorrow and happiness. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have found
Rose. “I love you too Rose.”
Rose smiled, her confidence
growing. He loved her. He honestly did. She opened her mouth to say something about the ashes, but
instead screamed as a loud explosion came from above. She looked above her and the ceiling was a color of fiery orange
and the airship…it was racing to the ground!
The Hindenburg was on fire!
“Jack!” Rose threw her arms around him,
closing her eyes tight as if not to see the death and destruction, but she
could still hear the screams and the coughing.
She pressed her face against Jack’s shirt as he himself began to
cough.
“Get on the floor!” Jack wrapped his
arms around her, still holding on to the ashes of his father, fighting against
the dizziness that was trying to over take him. He kept his arms around Rose as he lowered them to the floor
below the bellowing smoke. As soon as
Rose and he were safely on the floor, he lost consciousness. He was unaware of Rose desperately calling
his name as the airship fell apart around him.
Tears blocked Rose’s vision as she took
in her surroundings. She could see down
below as the interior of the ship burned away as the air ship groaned and
tilted, crash landing in Lakehurst, New Jersey.
~*~
It was dark, she could tell that much. It was dark and she was pressed up against something cool, yet soft. Finally her eyes adjusted and she saw that she was pressed against Jack’s chest, which by the way was still unconscious. She touched his face, not sure if he was alive or dead.
“Jack?” Her voice shook with fear. Please God; don’t let her Jack be dead. Don’t let them reach America just to be
separated by death. “Jack…please wake
up,” she fell quiet as she heard footsteps among the rubble and spotted a
flashlight moving from side to side looking for survivors.
She blinked as the light fell on
her. “Hello?” A male voice asked.
“Help us,” she could only manage a
small whimper, worried that she had lost the one person in the world that loved
her. “We’re down here.”
“Hey Louis! I’ve found some! Hurry
up!”
Rose gently took Jack’s box before she
was pulled up to her feet. She looked
up into a pair of serious brown eyes.
“How do you feel maim? Are you hurt?” The man asked.
“My fiancée! He’s down there! Please
help him! Please…” Rose began to sob,
afraid of being left alone in a strange country. Jack was supposed to be there with her, awake and healthy!
Another man arrived and bent down to
check on Jack. “There’s a pulse, but
barely! I’m going to need help getting
him out!”
“Maim, just stay here. I’m going to get a stretcher and then we’re
going to get him out of here,,” Her rescuer squeezed her shoulder before
disappearing from sight. Three minutes later
they had lifted Jack onto the stretcher and Rose followed them out.
Quickly Jack was lifted into the
ambulance that was waiting outside. As
Rose got in behind him, she turned to see the ruin of what once had been the
greatest airship in the world. The
Hindenburg was gone forever.
Wiping away a tear she climbed the rest
of the way into the ambulance and held Jack’s hand tightly, praying that he’ll
wake up soon.