A TRIP TO REMEMBER

I look up at the sky as I walk down the shore of the beach, the cool sand tickling my toes, Alisha chasing Ivan, and the sky nothing but a mass of ink. This was my first ever trip without my parents..... But I think I am going ahead of myself. Let me back up.

So, I had come to the Andaman islands with my two best friends, Alisha and Ivan., on a long weekend. We had been convincing our parents for months for this trip now, but as I was packing my bag, and even now, I had a horrible gut feeling. What could go possibly go wrong? It was just a bunch of 17-year olds, alone in the Andaman Islands, without adult supervision. Right, nothing could possibly go wrong. 

I heaved a sigh, as I tried to shake off this feeling and looked at my friends. They had tumbled over and were hysterically laughing, rolling about in the sand. I turned to look to my right, where the ocean spread to unknown boundaries and glittered in the light of the setting sun. I  sat down, letting my feet lightly touch the water, thinking about why I was feeling so worried when I hear Ivan call my name out. "Ari!!!! C'mere" I turned around to see Ivan pinned to the ground, while Alisha was holding his hand at his back and laughing. I got up and walked to them. Ivan stood up and brushed the sand off his clothes and looked at me. His eyes registering my body language, which I know he can read very well. "What's up Ari?" he asks. I look down at my feet and say, "I don't know..." By now Alisha was sitting beside me and looking at me. " You know what, it's getting late... Let us go back to the hotel.

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At the hotel, Alisha and I share a room, whereas Ivan's room is adjacent to ours. We freshen up and promise to meet at the restaurant to eat together. I finish cleaning up before Alisha and walk down to the dining hall where I see Ivan on his phone and an uneaten burger on his plate. He seems to be reading something with all of his concentration. I snatch his plate and start on the burger when he says, "There is an earthquake alert here at Andaman." His face is pale and his forehead has started to glisten with sweat. "Relax!" I say. "It's probably a small earthquake....." He shakes his head goes to grab another plate of food.  I am halfway through my burger when Alisha comes and sits beside me with a plate of Tacos. Not surprised. She has an unhealthy obsession with tacos. "Did you see the alert?" she asks me. I look at Ivan who is just staring at his plate of rice. 

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That night, I am awoken by Alisha who is jerking me and shouting "Get out, out. Earthquake!" I rush out into the lobby and both of us usher down the stairs. We see Ivan through the glass doors. We run out in the open as I feel the ground below me shaking. My knees tremble and my hands are wet with cold sweat. After what seems like forever, we are allowed to go into the hotel. We are supposed to drive out the next morning and none of us are able to sleep. So we pack our bags and wait for the sun to rise.

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The next morning, our driver and cab waits outside the hotel. We check out and get solemnly into the car. This trip. The one we had been planning for months, ended in a disaster. I knew that is what all of us were thinking. "Hey, but at least most of it was memorable and beautiful!" I say. They both look at me silently. 

As we drive past multiple beaches and resorts, the sky above us darkens, again. There is a weird calm. Like the one before a storm. Suddenly, we hear a rumble, and all of our phones light up. We see it is an alert from the government. The dormant volcano of Barren Island is active again and is erupting, right now. We start to panic. The driver presses down on the gas... Trying to get us out of here as fast as is physically possible. Tears now streaming down my face, I look down at my phone, take a screenshot of the warning and forward it to my mother and father. I tell them that I love them more than they ever will know. 

I see Ivan trying to search on the internet how is this possible and if this a sick joke. Barren Island is an extinct volcano! This is not supposed to happen! Alisha is sobbing with her head in her hands.

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 I smell the smoke before I see it. The radio is giving out warnings and instructions but I can't hear them over Alisha's sobbing and the sound from the engine of our car, now going at 180. Ivan says, "It's fine. Relax. We are out of the red zones. We are out of immediate danger. We will make out of this alive!" 

That's when I see the mud from the hill on our left slide and crash in front of our car. We are stuck. We are trapped. This is how this will end. I look around. I am weirdly calm. We get off the car. My phone buzzes and I look down to see my Dad texting me "You are going to be alright. Do not panic and follow the alerts issued by the government."

He seems calm. But I know both mum and dad are crying at home, bawling and praying. Alisha is sitting on the side of the road desperately trying to reach her mom whereas Ivan just got off the call with his parents. "We are 6.5km away from the volcano which is a safe distance. We should find a place to take shelter." The driver who is local, takes us further away from the volcano to a hotel he knows which is already full of people awaiting further instructions, crying, lost, and helpless just like us. I call my mom and tell her we are okay.

That's when we see the ash and smoke. It covers the hotel like a blanket and I feel like I can't breathe. My vision is blurred by the smog and I lose the sense of the people around me. My vision tunnels and I grasp the nearest table that I find. I feel light-headed and my eyes start to water. My skin becomes itchy and I can't stand anymore. I slump to the ground and kneel over until I slip out of consciousness.

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When I open my eyes, I see the rescue team wearing gas masks and bodysuits, carry people out of the reception. I try to get up and feel faint but am held by a rescue worker. They take us all to the nearest hospital. There, they give me some fluids and an oxygen mask and I fall asleep. When I wake up, I describe Ivan and Alisha to a nurse and she tells me that they are okay. I am allowed to get off the mask so I go and meet them. Alisha tells me that they couldn't find me and later found out that I stood nearest to the window and so I breathed in most of the ash. Obviously. I do the most stupid thing. Alisha and Ivan had run into a small room at the back with another family and closed all doors and windows and hence didn't feel a lot of discomfort. They had salvaged our luggage from the car and had booked the first flight for us to fly out. They also told me that they had informed my parents that I was fine and that they could not find my phone anywhere. "Who cares!" I say and pull them into a hug, glad to be alive and glad to have such beautiful human beings as friends. The next day, we fly out and I see all of our parents outside the arrival terminus, waiting impatiently. As soon as they see us, they run towards us and we all melt into a hug, crying and laughing. We all breakdown then and there. But I don't care. I am happy to be alive and happy to be back.