Take
a few minutes to read an excerpt
5:58 AM
March 1,
1978
Wilshire
Blvd.
Los
Angeles, CA
Wake-Up Call
�No�No�No�No�� A bloodcurdling scream woke me� it was my scream!
Can�t breathe. My head jolted off the pillow. Beads of sweat
dripped from my hair.
AAAIIIEEE. My hands flew to my ears, pressing harder and harder
to block out the noise. �Stop! Stop! Go away� leave me alone!�
It�s the phone. The phone. It�s the phone.
Slowly
picking it up. �Hi sweetie, it�s Mary Margaret. This is your
wake-up call and good wishes for your trip.�
Gasping
for air. �Th-th-thanks�
�Donna,
are you alright?�
�It was
that dream, that same dream. It was so real. I�m limping away
from a burning aircraft. The fire� the flames�the faces� The
people, they�re trapped�the fence.�
�Calm
down Donna. Your life hasn�t been that great lately but you�re
going to Hawaii. The islands have always been good to you. Hey,
you were Miss Hawaii.�
�You�re
right. I guess you�re right.�
I willed
my body out of bed, all the time mumbling to myself. �A shower.
Wash away this foreboding feeling.� The hot, steamy water
pounded my shoulders. My mind still churning like it was on spin
cycle. Suddenly an uncontrollable, primal sound erupted from my
throat.
�Let
my life change! Let it never be the same! Or let me die!�
_________________________
9:22 AM
March 1,
1978
Los
Angeles International Airport
Continental Flight 603
Chapter One
Love and Accept Yourself
At a
speed of 167 miles per hour, three tires blew. I was plunged
into paralyzing terror when the unexpected happened on take-off.
A powerful jolt slammed my body forward so tight against the
seat belt, I felt severed at the waist. Bounced and rocked,
surrounded by screeching crash sounds, I heard an ear splitting
crack as one wing clipped the tarmac and shattered. The
lumbering DC-10 aircraft, heavily laden with fuel, jerked
violently. My breath jammed in my throat and the bitter taste of
horror invaded my mouth. I was going to die.
Pandemonium was everywhere: brittle sounds of the plane's cabin
breaking apart, panels popping from the ceiling at crazy angles.
I cringed at the sight of loose luggage flying through the air
and bouncing off panicked passengers. A darkened movie screen
collapsed in a heap.
A flight
attendant screamed, "Tighten your seat belts! Tighten your seat
belts!� Then, another attendant yelled, �Head between your
knees�grab your ankles! Head between your knees� grab your
ankles!"
Before I
ducked my head, I glanced terrified out the window. We were
racing along the runway toward the rental car lot crammed with
vehicles. My heart pounded in my chest at an accelerated rate.
Eerie silence plagued the entire cabin as I witnessed the fear
of death frozen on the faces around me. I dropped my head down,
gripped my ankles, and immersed myself in a strange union of
dread and anticipation. I was going to die.
I had
heard your life passes before you when you are at deaths door.
My life had been such a mess. I didn�t want to see it. I had
suppressed a childhood afflicted by family alcoholism and
violence. At six, I was hospitalized with malnutrition and at
sixteen my dream of becoming an Olympic skier was scraped by a
heart catheterization. In my twenties, I hated my body and
battled with diet pills and bulimia. The symptoms were vomiting,
fasting, and binging. Career� I had no career. I was floundering
with financial woes that haunted me. The men I loved rejected
me, and my deepening sense of unworthiness kept me on the brink
of suicide. Now, at last, my wish would come true. In a matter
of seconds, I was going to die.
The
aircraft was hurtling off the end of the runway with a load of
passengers and a belly filled with lethal fuel. Then the
unthinkable happened, an all-encompassing calm descended upon
me. Overcome by a rush of warmth and euphoria, I succumbed to a
sensation of profound tranquility. A serene calm blanketed me
with a feeling of protection. At no time in my life had I felt
such love. I wondered, is this what it was like to die? Was this
the mysterious culminating grace, or a normal reaction before
death streamed down darkness? Did my fellow passengers feel
insulated from their fate by peace and unconditional love? Did
they also hear what I perceived to be an inner voice speaking to
me in a most obtrusive way?
You were given this
life.
What have you done with it?
You can
choose to die or ...
You can make a difference!
As the
plane skidded and bounced, I was forced to question my existence
on earth. I heard the screech of metal tearing along the left
side of the aircraft. Crash sounds intensified to a deafening
clatter. Seconds before slamming into the fenced-in rental car
lot, the plane skidded and ground to a halt. My neck snapped
back and my hands flew from my ankles. The aircraft burst into
flames and I was entombed in silence. No one said a word. The
silence was eerie. I was going to die.
The left
side of the cabin was already engulfed in flames. The right
fuselage was slanted upward, as if someone had jacked it up
twenty feet in the air. Flames billowed outside my window. What
remained of the left wing was swallowed up in smoke, yet, I sat
suspended in a state of bliss. My shield of energy encompassed
me.
A flight
attendant shouted, "Come to the rear! Come to the rear!"
Frightened passengers swarmed into the aisle to save themselves.
Like a remote-controlled robot, I unbuckled my seat belt and
shuffled into the crowd. I collided against bodies whose only
care was to escape before the plane exploded and sealed them
inside. When I reached the end of the sixth row, I spied the
exit door, but before I could reach it, the pushing from behind
popped me out of line like a gumball from a vending machine. I
tumbled head first onto the tilted cabin floor and slid
helplessly on my stomach toward the gaping exit door and the
raging blaze outside.
Heat
seared my skin, smoke assaulted my lungs, and savage flames
engulfed the entire rear exit of the cabin. If this was hell, I
wanted out. Fool, I anguished, it�s too late for you. Prepare
yourself for a slow and painful death. Suddenly, when there was
nothing more than air to prevent me from falling, I stopped. I
stared mesmerized at the wall of flames. Again, I heard the
calming inner voice.
Do you love yourself?
Do you have a good relationship
with your family and friends?
Are you living your goals and dreams?
If you die today, have you left this
planet a better place for being here?
I lay
sprawled on my stomach, hands stretched out before me,
transfixed by a toxic bonfire. Sweat streaming down my face, I
screamed, �No�no�no�no!� Inches from my body, a burst of
red-orange flames seared my skin and left me gasping. When I was
only seconds from death, it came, an urgency to fight for life.
I needed more time to love and redeem myself. Time to make
things right. I yelled, �I want to live!�
