Chapter 1
Eliza tore off her oxygen mask in an attempt to see better before she bolted down the aisle way of the quickly-sinking plane, screaming for her mother and father as she splashed down the aisle way, the icy salt water now up to her knees. Forcing herself not to look at the bleeding bodies around her, Eliza only searched for her parents, but she hadn't found them by the time she came to the emergency exit in the front of the plane. She had to throw her full weight (which wasn't much) against the door to get it open, and even then it didn't budge. The ocean water was forcing it shut and no matter how much she tried, it wasn't going to move and now the water was up to her waist and panic was slowly becoming the only feeling Eliza had.
But thankfully, just then, the exit door swung open inexplicably and Eliza felt herself fall out of the death trap of a plan and splash down into the cold ocean. The air was instantly torn from her lungs and replaced with the icy water, causing her to cough and gasp for air as she did her best to suppress the panicky feeling of just being there in the deep, dark, cold body of water. She wasn't sure if anyone else had survived it, but it didn't appear so as she could hear or see no one else and she had never felt more alone in her life. "M-mom!" She managed to choke out as her voice quivered with tears and hypothermia in between coughs. "D-d-dad!"
But no one answered and Eliza was now so cold and frightened that it seemed she could no longer even cry. She didn't know how she had survived that and no one else had. She was just a kid after all and she guessed if she stayed here like this, she wouldn't survive much longer. But then something miraculous happened. At first it was frightening before Eliza realized what it was. She felt someone grasp her arm from behind and begin to pull her from the water. She let out a brief scream but when whoever it was sat her in a small rowboat and turned her around to see them, she ceased her antics immediately. For it was a woman.
She had eyes like emerald fields that depicted nothing but kindness and gentleness. Her dark, chestnut-brown hair reached well past her shoulders and she was wearing an immaculate, snowy-white dress. To Eliza, she looked just like an angel, but who was she and why did she rescue her? But at the moment, she didn't care. Tears still spilled freely from her eyes and all she wanted was her parents. Where were they? She prayed to God they were all right.
"Okay, calm down. Everything's going to be alright." The woman assured her gently as she took the sobbing child by the shoulders. But Eliza only wrenched away from the young woman and looked behind her at the plane wreckage, clearly searching desperately for her mother and father. "Mommy! Daddy!" She screamed as loudly as her young lungs would allow, but again, no reply came to her and she felt more wracking sobs threaten in her throat. But then her worst fears were suddenly realized as a deafening crash erupted through the air around them and the ruined jet exploded into thousands of pieces, sending debris sky-high and waves four and five feet tall rocking the little rowboat back and forth.
Eliza immediately forced herself to turn away and threw herself into the stranger's arms in some form of protection. She knew that last explosion had dashed away any hopes of her parents, or anyone else coming away from that plane crash alive. Horrible, uncontrolling sobs wracked her petite body as she cried into the young woman's dress and the woman, in return, held her tightly to her until she managed to calm down a little. "Easy, everything's going to be okay. Shh." She attempted to quiet the young girl as she held her. "Shh. Listen to me." She then pulled Eliza back to look her in the eye while she spoke. "My name is Katie. I'm an angel sent by God to rescue you." She informed the child quickly, knowing that she wouldn't have to spend much time on this for young children almost never had a problem believing things like this.
"You are?" Eliza confirmed with a glassy gaze as she stared back at Katie in amazement. Katie nodded truthfully and opened her mouth to say something else, but Eliza interrupted her. "Is there another one like you who saved my parents?" She demanded, a sudden glimmer of hope flickering across her honey-brown gaze, but to her dismay, Katie shook her head sadly. "No, there was another angel, but he took your mommy and daddy home to live with God now. You'll see them again one day, but now you're young and just worry about right now." She told the little girl honestly as she pushed a strand of Eliza's golden hair behind her ear. "What's your name?" She ventured seriously, knowing that she needed to know that if she was to bring the child somewhere where she would be safe. But the answer that came back to her was one she had never expected in her wildest dreams.