The day after the tornado, Brian spent all day working hard. By the end of the day, he had built a new shelter and a bed out of pine tree limbs. He spread green moss on top to make it softer. He was so tired. He also made a new bow and arrow, killed a bird, and made a new fire. He was exhausted.

But he was also excited. The tail of the airplane was now sticking out of the water. The tornado got rid of a lot of the lake water. In a way, he was lucky. He remembered the survival pack. He might be able to get it from the airplane. But he needed a way to float across the lake. He decided to go to sleep. He was too tired to do anything about it that day. He noticed the air felt cooler. “Summer must be ending,” Brian thought.

The next day, Brian decided to build a raft. He needed a lot of logs, but he had plenty of those. After the tornado, there were many logs and wood from the snapped trees. They would float on the water. He had no rope though, and his shoelaces weren't strong enough. He still had his jacket though, and he tore off small strips to tie the logs together.

He rolled it onto the lake and smiled ear to ear when it floated in the water. He used a long tree limb as a paddle. The raft wasn’t great, but it floated, and that was enough. Brian got to the airplane and tied another piece of his jacket to the tail.

He looked at the sun moving west, getting ready to set. He looked north to where his dad was somewhere and southeast where his mom was doing something. Brian snapped out of it. It was beautiful in the wilderness. He wished he could share it.

He got back to work. The cabin of the airplane was underwater, so Brian couldn’t get in that way. He decided he had to go through the tail. He used his hatchet to cut through the metal. Though it took a long time, he was successful. The hatchet cut through the aluminum of the plane like it was cheese.

Finally he made a hole big enough. For a second Brian worried the plane might sink after he got inside. Then he’d be trapped and would die in a terrible way. It had stayed up for about two days, so Brian decided to go ahead and try to get the pack.

Brian held his breath and swam in. Brian didn't know exactly where to look, but he swam toward the front of the plane. He felt a cloth bag by his feet and knew it must be the survival pack. He swam to the tail where he could breathe inside the plane.

Brian caught his breath then swam back down to get the bag. He found it easily and pulled at it as hard as he could. Finally, the bag broke free. As the bag moved up in the water, Brian noticed the pilot, still in the chair.

He had forgotten the fish needed to eat too. The pilot was nothing but bones, a skeleton. It was too much. Brian got sick in the water. Then, he swallowed some of the water. Seeing the pilot was too much. He quickly swam back to the tail where there was air.

Brian tried to get the vision of the pilot out of his mind, but he knew he never would. Still, he looked through the hole in the tail, hearing the birds sing and the gentle breeze. After awhile he calmed down.

Brian calmly swam back down to retrieve the bag, careful not to look near the pilot. After grabbing the bag, he went back outside the plane and onto the raft. As heavy as the bag was, Brian knew his life would be much better.

By the time Brian returned to the shelter, it was night, and he was exhausted once again. The mosquitos bit into him as badly as always, but he didn't care. He got the pack to his shelter, then immediately fell asleep on his new bed.