In The Lifeboat

This is for the Vocal "Ship of Dreams" Challenge on the 110th Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.

That’s why I am freezing to death, clinging to what’s left of a table because I cannot really swim, and hoping that I can forget the cold as I watch the Titanic slowly slipping into the watery oblivion of the Atlantic after the iceberg hit. I was even more scared when the first funnel collapsed but it didn’t hit the sea near me, but I am so frightened.

I can see lifeboats moving away, women children, and money, and I just have this lump of wood, holding me up from sinking into the cold black depths.

I am scared, how did this happen? How did it come to this? Why am I freezing and scared in this vicious unforgiving ocean, alone without hope and frightened?

I know I am repeating myself, but I am just trying to keep awake, I know if I don’t then I will be lost, and I don’t want to be lost.

So how did I get here? How did tis happen/

A mate of mine came up with a plan. There was a new boat leaving Southampton for New York on the 10th April this year (1912) called the Titanic, and it should reach New York in just under six days. If we stored provisions under our work clothes we could get a temporary job loading the passengers' luggage onto the ocean liner. When the opportunity arose we would abscond and jump into one of the lifeboats.

The reasoning behind this was that the titanic was unsinkable and the lifeboats were just decorative so unlikely to be looked at or used, and while it wasn’t exactly first class it was going to be a free trip across the Atlantic on the fastest ocean liner ever which was also unsinkable. We would just have to stay undercover in our lifeboat during the day, sneak out at night for water and maybe extra food that had been thrown out by the kitchens.

The plan was foolproof.

We put it into action and ended up in adjacent lifeboats which were actually not too uncomfortable, although I got worried every time I heard someone walking past, and the worst were children who were complaining to their chaperones that they wanted to go into the nice boats. Lucky for us that never happened..

Things were going perfectly, until the 15th of April. In the middle of the night something happened, a terrible screeching noise , and the weather was awfully cold.I started to get worried but obviously couldn’t say anything or get out of the lifeboat.

There was a lot of noise then I heard “Women and children first, man the lifeboats”

“Shoot” This wasn’t meant to happen, why were they breaking out the lifeboats? The titanic is unsinkable, what the hell…

The cover of my lifeboat was pulled off and one of the security staff pulled a gun on me, I was out of there like a shot and realised that there was something majorly wrong as the deck was sloping madly and the Atlantic was covering the bottom half as i slid towards the dark cold waters…

I don’t know what happened to my mate but I hit the water and realised I couldn’t actually swim, so grabbed an upturned wooden table, and started kicking to get away from the sinking ship.

And that is where I am now, getting colder and sleepier. I took off my belt and tied it to my wrist and the table leg in the hope that it will keep me afloat til rescue comes.

I am so tired, my eyes keep closing, I can’t feel my legs but I can see the Titanic, the unsinkable ship, going down into the depths of the Atlantic.

I am not religious but I am praying that I will not follow her …….

The conclusion to this story can be read here