Getting Out Alive; The Autumn Veatch Story (A true account)

The following short story is a true account of a brave young woman's survival. Not only was she the sole survivor of a plane crash, but she then managed to hike for two days through some of the most rugged terrain in the country, and essentially rescue herself. I was extremely fortunate to be able to speak with Autumn, and she shared her story with me, so that I could write it for you.
I took great care to keep it accurate, and this is published with Autumn's consent and I have also given her the copyright, because....well, it is HER story! Enjoy!! :)
-Tara

(Free download of this document is available HERE on Smashwords.)



Getting Out Alive
The Autumn Veatch Story







Written byTARA ELLISAs told byAUTUMN VEATCH









Photograph copyrights for: Image 1. Autumn Veatch, 2. Chelsey Clark, 3. Chelsey Clark, 4. Sara Esperance


Copyright © 2015 Autumn Veatch
Cover art design Copyright © Tara EllisPhotographer: Tara Ellis Photography

All rights reserved. No part of this story may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Tara Ellis Publications2015http://www.amazon.com/Tara-Ellis/e/B00IVF1JQK/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1








Getting Out Alive-The Autumn Veatch Story

Preface
This is a true account of the fatal plane crash that occurred on July 11, 2015, in the Northern Cascade Mountains in Washington State. Autumn Veatch was the only survivor. This is her story, as told by her to author Tara Ellis. It has been written and published with her consent and parental approval.
1.This is a self portrait Autumn took that day and sent to a friend, not long before the crash.












1
Saturday, July 11th, 2015Approx. 3:20 pm, PST
Sixteen-year-old Autmn Veatch grips the back of the seat in front of her, as the small plane bounces in the turbulence. It’s the first time she’s ever been on a small plane, and only the second time flying. Although Autumn hadn’t been afraid when she and her grandparents left Kalispell, Montana a few hours ago, she was quickly changing her mind.As the plane settles back into its loud, endless drone, she pries her hands away from near her grandfather’s shoulders, in the pilot seat, and finds her phone.If I die, remember that I love you! She quickly types, smiling slightly as she sends it to her boyfriend, Newton. Yeah, it’s a bit dramatic, but she knows he’ll laugh at it. That’s the kind of friendship they have, full of wit and sarcasm.“Are you okay, Autumn?” Looking up at her grandma, Autumn nods in response. The voice-activated headset she was given is a pain to use. They just end up talking over each other, so she’s been quiet for most of the trip. It’s actually kind of entertaining to listen to the relentless banter between her step-grandparents. This past week, Autumn got to know them pretty well, and she was surprised that they were so fun to be around. Her mom married their son about four years ago, but this trip is the most time she’s spent with them.While the nearly unbearable Montana heat wasn’t so horrible in comparison to the constant rain of Bellingham, Washington, she’s eager to get home. Newton and his mom are picking her up at the small airport and she can’t wait to be back with her friends. Looking down at the response to her last text, Autumn laughs, and tries to forget the tense situation that she’s in.Cloudy weather delayed their departure that morning until the afternoon, and it’s gotten worse the closer they get to home. As they flew into the most rugged part of the Northern Cascade Mountains, they lost sight of Hwy 20, the road they’re using for navigation.Now, it’s close to 3:30 pm, and it’s becoming increasingly obvious that her grandfather isn’t sure where they are. All Autumn can see out the windows are white clouds, and she doesn’t know where the looming mountains are…hopefully below them.A sudden jerking motion to the right causes her to gasp and look up just in time to see a tree-shrouded cliff disappear behind them! They had almost ran straight into it. As her grandparents try to laugh it off, Autumn fights down her rising panic and turns to her phone, her lifeline, for comfort. However, she sees the undeniable circle with an X through it, and groans at the timing. How can she lose service now?Remembering that her grandma is using her tablets GPS to help guide them; Autumn wonders if they’re totally blind now. The thought isn’t reassuring. “It turned off!” Sharon Bowman cries, frantically pushing at the device. The joking between them just moments ago forgotten, Leland looks at his wife in disbelief.“You turned it off?” His voice is muffled through her headset, but Autumn’s anxiety is intensified. His concern is palpable. They’re in real trouble.“It wasn’t on purpose!” Sharon answers, now sounding desperate.“I can’t see a thing,” Leland mumbles. “I’m going to try and get below this cloud bank.”Her knuckles turning white, Autumn does the only thing she can think of. Making sure her seatbelt is secured; she then clutches the back of the pilot seat again, putting her head between her knees. She suffers from anxiety on a good day, and this is far from being a good day. Eyes squeezed shut; she tells herself that they have everything under control and that she’s worrying over nothing.“We’re getting too low!” her grandpa shouts, his voice thick with fear. This does nothing to boost her confidence, but causes a fresh wave of apprehension. “We’ll have to go above it instead.”The sudden change in altitude causes Autumn’s stomach to drop even further, and she swallows against the bile threatening to rise.This can’t be happening! She thinks numbly, willing the plane to climb faster. They have to climb faster, they have to –Her mantra is interrupted by an earsplitting sound that her mind can’t place. At the same time, trees replace the white outside the windows. As if in slow motion, one of the wings breaks off, and they continue to plummet through the surreal forest, their forward motion slowing with each new assault to the body of the plane.Autumn watches in shock as first her phone and then her backpack slide almost gently from her lap and disappear. Everything roars around her as the headset flies off, and then finally…the nightmare ends. Or so she thought.







2
Saturday, July 11th, 2015Approx. 3:30 pm, PST
Fire.There’s fire rushing towards her from the front of the plane, and the heat is already agonizing. Pushing at the seatbelt, Autumn struggles to get it off. It won’t open.“No, no, no!” she sobs, clawing at it blindly now, her eyes burning from the heat and smoke. Instinct finally takes over and she stops panicking. Move, or die.Pushing up in the seat, she slides her legs out of the belt, thankful that it was loose enough for the maneuver. Straining to see, she turns away from the flames, scrambling over wreckage through the only available route and somehow managing to get outside. Finding herself standing beside the plane, on the same side she had been sitting, she turns towards the opening where her grandpa is still strapped in. He’s alive, but badly hurt. The fire is all around him and she can see her grandma in the seat on the other side. She’s screaming, and all Autumn can think is that she has to pull Leland out before she can get to Sharon.Reaching through the opening, she grabs at his hands, arms, anything she can get a grip on. Pulling with all of her strength, it has no effect.“You have to get out!” Autumn screams, her voice hoarse and barely recognizable. “Take the seatbelt off!” Reaching again for him, she’s aware of her right hand burning, and her face is hot from the nearby flames licking around the cockpit.He’s mumbling, moaning, but Autumn can’t make out what he’s saying. Sharon’s screams take on a new pitch, and then stop altogether. The fire has consumed her, and knowing that her grandfather is next, she tugs at him even harder, ignoring her own pain.This can’t be happening. It can’t be real. None of this is real, Autumn thinks, trying to convince herself.But the nightmare unfolding around her can’t be denied, and the man she’s come to love and respect stops moving under her hands. When the smell of her own charred flesh and singed hair breaks through her shock, Autumn is finally compelled to move away from the wreckage, the heat physically pushing her back.Staring in horror at the raging inferno, the whole plane now engulfed, Autumn stumbles over the unforgiving terrain, shaking her head angrily.“No!” She yells, the enormity of what’s just happened beginning to sink in. “No!” Spinning around, all she can think about is getting away from the hell she’s been thrown into.Sobbing, blinded by her tears, Autumn plunges through the alien landscape. Branches scrape at her arms and legs, and she falls over countless rocks and logs as the ground drops away at a steep pitch.“Why did that have to happen to them?” The words are ripped from her throat and echo back at her. “Why! Why did they have to die!” It wasn’t a question, but an accusation. Autumn knows she sounds crazy, but she can’t stop and continues to scream uncontrollably. Her words begin to run together until she isn’t making any sense, but it’s as if the fear is driving her forward and there’s a part of her that knows that she has to keep moving if she wants to stay alive.Her descent rapidly increases until she’s forced to reach out and grab at a tree to stop her forward motion. Placing her forehead against the cool bark, Autumn listens to the rapid thumping of her heart. Crinkling her nose at the foul scent of her hand, her heartrate surges faster at the evidence of what she’s fleeing from.“It’s not far enough,” she whispers at the tree, not expecting an answer. Looking over her shoulder, eyes wide, Autumn touches the scorched edges of her hair with her good left hand, and the cold emptiness of terror threatens to overwhelm her. She has to get away.Pushing back from the Cedar, she continues her flight.The mountains are timeless. After listening to the pounding of her feet and own raspy breath for what feels like forever, Autumn has no idea how long she’s been running. The shadows are lengthening, and the silence of the woods finally wrap around her when she stops again. The sounds of the fire that had been chasing her are gone and she can take a deep, shuddering breath.The ground and all of the underbrush are wet, even the air is damp, and she can feel the chill of the coming evening seeping in through her soggy clothes. Autumn knows it can’t be much later than four in the afternoon, but her limited outdoor experience makes her aware that night comes early in the mountains. What if she has to spend the night out here? How is she supposed to stay warm?Wait!Tilting her head to the side, much like a bird that is startled, she strains to hear a faint sound. Forcing herself to slow her breathing, she tries to concentrate.There! It sounds like the freeway! Her adrenaline once again surging, Autumn sprints recklessly towards her possible salvation. Ignoring the steepening landscape, she slides down the muddy hillside, any rational thought gone for the moment. The journey comes to an abrupt end when the ground disappears beneath her, and she’s suddenly nearly free falling down a cliff!Landing hard on her backside, she puts her hands and feet out to slow her descent. The pain of rocks slicing through her burns barely register, and a part of her observes that she’s almost numb to the ongoing agony.Reaching the bottom of the ravine, Autumn discovers the source of what she thought was freeway noise; a small river. Screaming in frustration, she tries hard to fight back fresh tears.Now what?Looking around at her seemingly hopeless situation, Autumn recalls the survivalist shows she was forced to watch with her father. “Follow the water downstream,” she says aloud, her voice harsh. “It might ultimately lead to civilization.” Staring at the water, she stands still in spite of her own encouraging words to move. It’s flowing peacefully around her feet, and she wishes it could wash away the terror that she knows is waiting to pounce. That…and panic. Plagued daily with anxiety, it’s a constant battle for control. Her feet are cold. Without really thinking about it, she begins to trudge across to the other side, where there is enough room along the edge to walk on dry ground. Although she’s feeling the first tug of thirst, she resists the urge. One of the other lessons she learned from those TV shows, was that even though it looks like clean mountain water, it could be contaminated with microscopic organisms that would make her sick. Without a way to start a fire to boil it, drinking it is a risk. She decides to only drink it when she gets really thirsty. She’ll be okay for a day.After going just a couple hundred feet, Autumn is forced by rock outcroppings to cross back over to the other side. Although it hardly classifies as a river, the water is deep enough, and the rocks slick enough, to pose a challenging obstacle course for the already battered teen. Her multiple burns, scratches, bruises, and abrasions are starting to hurt as the adrenaline wears off, making the journey even more difficult.The terrain doesn’t relent, offering her no other choice than to continuously switch back and forth. She uses fallen trees as bridges when possible, carefully picking her way through the branches that are still attached. When those aren’t available, she tries to balance on the tops of the larger, exposed rocks, which results in multiple falls and several instances of being swept away briefly in the freezing cold water.This goes on for the rest of the long afternoon, until the setting sun and encroaching darkness forces Autumn out of her drone-like state. Looking up at the steep banks, she knows she needs to find a safe place to sleep. That isn’t possible down here in the water.Her body aching beyond anything she’s ever experienced, Autumn scrambles painfully up the loose rocks and dirt. After backsliding a number of times, she finally reaches the top, and then uses the branches and underbrush to help pull her up to a flatter surface.She eventually staggers into a small clearing, the ground littered with pine needles. It was likely the best spot she was going to find, and it was getting dark fast.I have to get out of these wet clothes.Drawing again from her meager survival knowledge, she strips down to her underwear and tank top. Hanging the sopping clothes over nearby branches, she then wanders somewhat aimlessly, unsure of what to do next. Everything in these woods seems wet. Even if she knew how to start a fire from scratch, there’s no way she could find enough dry kindling to try it.Now that she’s stopped moving, the aching in her joints intensifies. The smallest of motions take an enormous amount of willpower and all Autumn wants to do is sleep. To stop thinking and feeling. But it’s so cold. Although they’ve had record highs in this area over the past week, the temperature dropped about twenty degrees this weekend. It was probably still close to eighty today at the lower elevations, but up here, she’s guessing it might be around fifty tonight. After being in frigid water for hours, her clothes wet, and no way to warm up, hypothermia is a real concern.Going to her clothes, she slowly picks up her brown cardigan. It’s her favorite, and this small, familiar token brings her some comfort. Squeezing out as much water as she can, she then pulls it gingerly over her head, every burn screaming at the assault.Circling the clearing, much like a dog in his kennel, she randomly picks out a spot and sits against a tree. Drawing her knees to her chest, she pulls the thick cardigan down over them as far as it’ll go, lowers her head, and breaths warm air into the small cocoon she’s created.Now that she’s away from the river, the silence has returned and with it, too much opportunity to think. Unable to bear the thought of a whole night alone out here in the dark woods, Autumn does the only thing she can think of to fill the void: sing.She starts with ‘Sing Along’, by Karen O. The rhythmic, soothing melody instantly helps to calm her racing mind. As the night takes over and darkness presses in, she moves on to other familiar tunes that help fill the void. Crying and shivering, she prays for the comforting bliss of a dreamless sleep.








3


Sunday, July 12, 2015Time unknown

Something is moving nearby. The odd rustling sounds break through Autumn’s thin veil of sleep and she catches her breath, not daring to move. Is it a bear? A mountain lion?Cautiously, she raises her head and is greeted with a dark so complete, that she can’t even see her knees that are just inches below her chin. Fear paralyzes her. Nighttime is always a challenge at home, and she will often call someone to talk with to help her fall asleep. This is literally one of her worst nightmares.Maybe it’ll just eat me, and we can get it over with.She dismisses the thought quickly, wishing she could take it back and not tempt fate. Being eaten alive by some wild creature is not how she wants to leave this world.Whatever it is continues to sniff around and taunt her for the rest of the night. Mixed in with the distinct animal noises is something harder to describe. Whispers. Like a secret, hushed conversation heard from a distance, except that she can still hear it after plugging her ears. She must nod off at some point though, because she wakes to the first blessed rays of sunshine on her face.Eager to get moving and away from this place, she forces her stiff legs to unfold and uses the tree to help her stand. Her right hand throbs. Huge blisters cover it, and she whimpers at the pain that picking up her clothes causes. Once she gets her damp jeans and mud-filled shoes on, Autumn lurches towards where she hopes the river is.Wiping at her burning eyes with her left hand, she notices an odd smell that’s been trailing her since the day before. Mint. It’s mixed in with the more subtle odor of pine needles and something else. Perhaps the rotting decay of the forest floor or maybe it’s the putrid flesh of her burned hand.Whatever it is, it doesn’t belong here. Nature is supposed to smell fresh and clean…not like this thick, cloying stench. Wrinkling her nose at it, Autumn does her best to ignore it, her paranoia suggesting that it represents something sinister.It only takes a few minutes to reach the river, and after a controlled slide, she falls back easily into the brain numbing routine of the day before. Only this time, she starts out already wet, cold, and hurting all over.She doesn’t make it far before taking her first spill, the icy water swallowing her up, and spitting her back out a short distance downstream. Every time it happens, she has to painfully crawl to the shore and drag herself out. It’s exhausting.After about an hour, it gets to the point where she’s having a hard time catching her breath. She’s never been diagnosed with asthma, but has always suspected that she might have it. Cold is one of the triggers for the slight constriction of her airway. She just can’t stand being cold any longer, and when she sees two trees in easy reach, she makes the decision to take a break.Stripping again, Autumn lays down in between the two trees and does her best to get warm. Or…maybe getting warm wasn’t what she really wanted.“I’m going to die,” she says weakly at the empty forest. Maybe slipping off to sleep and succumbing to hypothermia wouldn’t be all that bad.“Please, just kill me! Make it fast,” she adds, praying to a God she hasn’t spoken to in years, and isn’t even sure if he exists. This causes her to pause, and she reflects on the things she’s done in her life, both good and bad. People that she wished she could talk to one more time, to make things right. Her boyfriend.Crying out, she begs for mercy. This can’t happen…not like this. She wants to feel a warm bed again, to go sit in a field with Newton and watch the sun set. To feel a hug again. What would happen to her…if she did die? She doesn’t know if there’s a heaven.What if I just ceased to exist?This thought breaks through the deep chill that’s settled over her, and she pushes up on her forearms. What if no one found her body? If they did, what would it look like?“I don’t want to die out here alone,” she sobs, in total despair. “Help me! Please, God, someone help me.”A small, brown animal that looks like a giant gerbil peeks it head up nearby and silently observes her. Watching it, Autumn decides to call it a forest gerbil, and smiles slightly as it scurries across the opening, just a few feet away. In the silence caused by the break in her crying, she hears something out of place.“Is that a helicopter?” she gasps, nearly jumping to her feet. Spurred on by desperate hope, she propels herself out of the space she thought would be her grave. But as soon as she walks to where there’s a gap in the trees overhead, the sound is gone. Had it ever really been there?While disappointed, she’s managed to recapture the motivation needed to continue. She refuses to die out here.










4
Sunday, July 12thLate afternoon

The rest of the day turns into a blur of continuously crossing the river, which becomes deeper and swifter, and eventually leads to a large, twenty-foot waterfall. With no other options, Autumn has to pick her way down the rocks jutting out of it, adding to her cold and misery.It ends up being the first of two waterfalls, but shortly after, the stream spreads out to create more of a marsh. While it’s less treacherous, trudging through the waist-deep muck is almost as bad.She’s been forced to stop and rest several times already, her body quickly weakening. Thankfully, she drank some water while it was still flowing clean. Now, Autumn squints at the lowering sun, dreading the possibility that it represents: spending another night out here.Humming, she continues to distract herself with a broad spectrum of songs. It’s been the only thing that’s kept her from going insane. She’s made it through nearly the whole song list from the movie Happy Feet, and is currently making the smacking sounds from Prince’s song, Kiss.Looking up to mark her progress, she pauses. Is that a trail?The woods seem to hold its breath in the silence as she makes her way towards the flattened area ahead. Although hopeful, Autumn is reserved. Multiple times today, she got excited by what she thought was a sign of people and civilization, only to discover it was a trick of light or her imagination.Sighing, she steps out of the muck and onto something new: a sandbank. While relieved to finally reach level ground where she can walk on dry land, she can’t help but be frustrated that it isn’t actually a trail.Covered in thick, stinky mud, the exhausted teen begins searching for a place to settle in until morning. As much as she’d like to deny it, night is once again winning the battle, and she would really like to be asleep before experiencing its full effects.Preferring to have something at her back, Autumn selects a fallen log and then numbly goes through the now familiar routine of stripping down and using her cardigan as a cover. At first, she’s thankful for the soft, slightly warm padding that the sand provides. As the evening progresses though, it becomes clear that the location wasn’t a good choice. Sand fleas emerge, and she can feel them crawling all over and biting her. Afraid to move blindly through the dark woods, she stays put, and wakes to discover that a rash and countless bug bites have now been added to her injuries.I didn’t know that moving could hurt so bad.Pushing herself, Autumn tries to ignore the pain. If she stops moving, she’ll never get out of here. No one will know what happened, or that her grandparents are dead.Thinking of them causes a fresh round of sobs to break through, and Autumn almost misses the sound of a plane flying nearby. Tripping through the sand, she peers up through the trees, but doesn’t see anything. Are they looking for me? she questions, hope swelling in her chest. Wiping at her eyes, she moves to the next clearing and looks skyward. Is it in the news? Are there search parties?Even though she can’t see the plane, she knows for sure that there’s one there. It isn’t like the helicopter or other things yesterday, because this time it’s obvious. Its engines fade away without any visual sign of it, but it’s still encouraging.It takes a while to get moving, but she makes slow progress walking along the bank. The marsh recollects itself into more of a defined creek, but the terrain remains level, so that she isn’t forced back into the water.Now that she’s able to walk among the trees, she keeps a close eye out for anything edible. She hasn’t been hungry these past two days, but she woke up this morning with a gnawing ache in her stomach. However, nothing seems to come easy here, and the only visible food is berries that aren’t ripe enough to eat.Unsure of how much time is passing, Autumn moves forward in a daze, remembering random things from her past and muttering the same songs from yesterday.When the sound of another plane approaches, it barely breaks through, jolting her to awareness. The tone is different. It’s much closer. Pausing, the young girl watches in disbelief as the craft flies directly over! Screaming, waving her arms, Autumn wills the plane to turn around. They have to see her!Running now, she falls and then painfully pushes herself back up, flailing her weak arms at the retreating rescue party. “Come back!” she screams, her voice sounding surreal. “Come back!” she repeats, unable to accept that they’re leaving her. But they are. They didn’t see her. Maybe no one will ever see her and she’ll just slowly fade away like the plane.Staring down at her hands in the dirt, Autumn realizes that she’s fallen again, but hasn’t gotten back up. What’s the point?Rising to her knees, she tries to take a breath and finds that’s it’s getting more difficult again. In this vast space, it feels like the air is collapsing in on her, and she’s slowly suffocating. She doesn’t know where she is. No one does. Focusing on the deep ache in her right hand, the throbbing in her joints, and the raw burning wounds covering her body, she uses it to prove to herself that she’s still alive.She stumbles to her feet.“Just a little further,” she calls to the forest gerbil she’s seen darting in and out of the trees throughout the morning. “We’re going to make it.”This compels her to dig deep into her memory for the songs from the movie, Over the Hedge. But she quickly gives up, deciding that she isn’t that far gone…yet.Absently scanning the tree line for her furry friend, she notices something that looks like a defined structure. Stopping, Autumn holds a hand to shade her eyes. She has to be imagining things again.Just ahead, spanning the small river is a mystical-looking bridge made of logs. To either side of it, heading in opposite directions, is a well defined, trampled down trail.“It can’t be real,” she whispers, moving cautiously towards it, afraid that it will disappear if she goes too fast. Reaching out, she reverently touches the smooth wood when it doesn’t fade away, sobbing with relief.











5
Monday, July 13thAround 12:30pm PST

The bridge is real.The trail is real too, and after a brief debate (and hugging the logs); Autumn decides to continue her downward descent and takes the path to the left.It winds through the trees, painting a dreamlike, peaceful image that’s in direct conflict to her current condition. Each step is more excruciating than the last, making this final trek feel like a test and rite of passage, having to prove that she’s worthy of survival.Finally, Autumn staggers into the trailhead parking lot. Looking around in wonder, she still doesn’t quite believe it’s true. A large, wooden sign details the rules of the trail and she has to laugh at the name ‘Easy Pass Trail’. There wasn’t anything easy about it!There’s only one car parked here, a small white sedan. Going to it, she finds it empty, and decides to just wait for the owners to return, since she has no idea how far into the woods, or how remote this parking lot is. It doesn’t take long though before the fear that they might not come back wiggles its way into her thoughts. They could be on a long hiking trip. Someone might have even parked this car at the far end of a really long trail, and they won’t reach it for days.Driven by her dread of the night, Autumn leaves the trailhead and follows the road, figuring that since it’s the only way in and out, she isn’t likely to get lost. Fortunately, it turns out to be a rather short road, and meets up with a large, well-used freeway.This has to be highway twenty! Autumn thinks, while approaching the thick, white fog line marking the edge. This was the road her grandparents were navigating by, and she knows that there should be a lot of traffic on it in the summer, as it leads to several popular vacation destinations.She made it! Choking around a sob of relief, Autumn resists the temptation to just lay down right there. No one has seen her yet.When the first car rapidly approaches from the West, she looks up hopefully. Her legs threaten to buckle, but she wills herself to stay upright. As it comes alongside her, she tentatively raises a dirty hand, and then watches in shock as it continues without even slowing down.They didn’t realize I need help, she scolds herself. Why didn’t I just flag them down?When the sound of the next car builds, this time coming from the East, she’s ready. Arms held high over her head, she shuffles right onto the white line and does her best to get their attention. But they don’t stop. Confused now, she steps back from the retreating vehicle. The driver looked right at her.Gazing down at her clothes, Autumn sees that she’s a mess. She’s covered in mud, and the parts of her skin that are still visible are battered with burns, cuts, and bruises. But can’t they tell that she’s just a young girl that’s desperate?Moaning now, she does her best to rearrange the destroyed clothes and wipe the dirt from her face. This can’t be happening.More cars come into view, and in spite of her dramatic pleas, they each pass her by. When one of the occupants actually waves and smiles back, she loses it. Crying, almost hysterical, she jumps up and down, yelling at the smiling person, safe inside their car.“Why are you doing this?” she shouts, as even more vacationers turn a blind eye to the frantic teen. “Do you know what I’ve been through?” Another driver makes eye contact, but after waving her off, speeds away without even tapping their brakes.I’m going to die here.Taking a step back from the traffic and the people that refuse to help, Autumn doesn’t know what to do. After surviving a plane crash and two days alone in the woods, I’m going to die on the side of this freaking highway!Unable to stand the cold indifference any longer, she limps back down the road and into the parking lot. The white car is still there, and she stares at it for a bit, confused. A light rain begins to fall, compelling her to seek shelter under the trailhead sign.Gathering her legs to her chest, it’s hard not to feel defeated. Why won’t anyone help her? Autumn sees a flash of red enter the parking area, her vision blurred by the rain, or maybe from her tears. It’s another car. After coming to a stop, two men get out and they both look in her direction. They see her, and they aren’t going away. In fact, they’re coming towards her.“Oh God,” she breathes, painfully getting to her feet. Were they really going to help her?Longing more than ever to feel the hug of a loved one, Autumn Veatch takes a step towards her rescuers. Crossing the small space that separates them, she remembers her grandparents, the wrecked plane, and the consuming fire. Fresh tears escape, following the pathway of clean skin the previous ones created.She can see the obvious look of concern on the men’s faces now, and she knows that they won’t leave her. She won’t have to spend another night alone and afraid, her own fears and anxiety trying to envelope her. “I need help,” she’s says to them, doing her best to appear strong. “I’m the only survivor of a plane crash.” The sound of her own voice admitting this finally drives home that this is real. She’s being saved.She’s getting out alive.




The End


Authors note: I want to thank Autumn Veatch for trusting me with her story. I need to make it clear, that while I wrote this, it is her story. This experience was shared with me during a nearly three-hour long interview, and was written with as much accurate detail as possible. It’s been approved by Autumn and as such, she holds the copyright.
I was impressed with this young lady before I even had the honor of meeting her. After hearing her story first-hand, I can’t express enough the strength and courage she has. Not only in what she endured during this harrowing experience, but also in how she handles the daily struggles of life. Autumn was very open with me in regards to her anxiety and related disorders. Like so many of us, she didn’t realize how strong she was, until faced with a life-or-death situation. She hopes that by reaching out, she might be able to encourage others to have faith in themselves and realize their full potential.

We all have it within us to be survivors, whether it’s from a plane crash in the middle of one of the most rugged wildernesses in America, or from a daily fight with our own demons. There is always something worth fighting for: yourself.
-Tara Ellis



Pictures
2. The trailhead for Easy Pass Trail


3. Autumn was treated for burns, dehydration, bruises, and abrasions.

4. Autumn was quickly reunited with family and friends and got those hugs!

You can download a free copy of this short story HERE on Smashwords!

Please follow this LINK to Autumn's official GoFundMe account. She was in the middle of moving at the time, and because of this, had all of her belongings with her on the plane. She lost everything! Between this, and the medical bills, she could really use some help. Please consider donating.