I had won a trip to China through an internship orogram on campus. (Weirdly enough, I don’t know anything about China, but I remember clearly the name of where we were going - Xianghe - which is apparently a real place.)

My parents agreed to pay for the portion of the plane ticket that wasn’t subsidized by the program; I kissed them and my sister and boyfriend goodbye, and got on the plane. Excited, I greeted the other internship winners, and sat in my seat.

I fell half-asleep, as I often do on plane trips, and when I woke up I realized we were flying under a bridge over a bay. Then I saw we were flying close to the water. Then through the window I started to see the water level rise until we were capsized…

I was panicking and crying and then through the window I saw a massive crane-type object plunge into the water, grab the plane’s fuselage whole, and lift it out.

A rescue team was called for; we were extracted and wrapped in blankets; our families were summoned. I clung to my mother, sobbing. Then we found out that another plane was being called for so we could continue on to China. I told them I didn’t want to go, I couldn’t bring myself to fly again so soon, that I wanted to be with my family instead.

My parents were annoyed that I didn’t want to go, because they’d spent some money on the plane ticket. I told them through my tears that I’d pay it back, I just couldn’t leave them, I wanted to be with them; they never seemed to hear or understand.

I woke up. My parents are still as supportive as ever. I don’t understand.

thewordunheard—8/20/09