the unsinkable

The Unthinkable

I was 8 when my father shook me awake. “Liam, get up son you got to get up now it’s time to leave son.” I sat up in my bed, father was standing at the side of my bed, I looked around my mother was busy getting my sister up and dressed. i looked out the porthole and it was still dark out. “what’s going on?” I turned to look at my dad who was staring back at me. “There seems to have been a bit of commotion on the boat and they need everyone to head to the top deck, get dressed Liam” my dad declared as he went on handing me my suitcase to get dressed. I took that to mean we had landed in America early. I grew rather excited to finally have arrived on land. Dad spoke highly of the freedom of being at sea. How nothing, in his mind that is, compared to the feel of being out on open waters. It excited me but being on this boat made me question what he meant since we were confined to a tiny space compared to being on land. It was even smaller for us since there was spaces that were off limits to us guests, even more places off limits to us kids.so I truly didn’t understand what he meant by “freedom of the sea” In my mind it failed in comparison to the endless freedom of being on land. A place where I could go out and run with my friends a place where we could ride our hobbyhorses all day until we grew tired and still couldn’t see the edge of land. That is what I thought was freedom, I didn’t understand until I got older what dad meant. I just knew I shouldn’t dwell so much on where I was as much as I should think about where we were going. The new world, the land of opportunities. I got excited thinking we had landed already and could finally leave.

I hopped on out of bed and got dressed, I put my boots on, “don’t forget to put on your jacket Liam its cold outside dear” my mom remarked. “yes mom” I grinned as I grabbed for my coat, I folded up my pajamas to pack in my suitcase and bring it with me when my father stopped me, “it’s okay son leave your suitcase here you’re not going to need it just yet well come back for it later’ I thought it rather unusual we were going to leave all out stuff here and come back for it later? I didn’t want to leave and come back I was tired of being on the ship already and didn’t want to get off just to come back for something I wanted to bring down with me right away. my mother chimed in as well “Liam sweetheart, we’re not leaving just yet, the captain just has an announcement for us and we have to all go hear what it is” dad spoke up “ I bet they’re going to announce someone got drunk and fell overboard” “Hugh stop it, that’s not nice you shouldn’t say such things’ mom replied with a slight grin. “You saw those drunk bastards leaving the bar Lilian, you can’t say it’s not possible they stumbled off” dad said as he bellowed out a hardy laugh.

We could hear more people out in the hall and dad took that as our exit cue as well. Dad picked up my sister Florence “are you already to go princess?” “Yes daddy” my sister said in a low voice as she yawned and rested her head on dads shoulder, he kissed her forehead and opened the door.

We made our way out into the hall “stay close to me William” mom grabbed my and as we blended in with the rest of the herd making their way on out. Most of the people were murmuring amongst each other. some confused, some a bit bothered that their jovial gatherings were being interrupted with “nonsense” as they claimed. A few seemed unnerved “maybe they are going to address the bump that happened earlier” I overheard someone say. “Bump? “I thought to myself. “The boat shook and we had come to an abrupt halt, I wonder what could have caused it?” I thought to myself the same thing after hearing that I was curious what had occurred when I was sleeping.

We made our way to the top deck. we saw kids and adults playing snowballs with some ice that was scattered around the floor. Their laughs and smiles infected me i grabbed my mom’s arm “mom can I go play with the other children?” “No son” replied my father” stay with your mother while I go talk to an officer and find out what is going on around here” I let out a small groan as he handed my sister over to my mother, she reached her arm out and pulled me close to her as more people began to emerge on the stern. Watching my breath slowly come out of my mouth and disappear up into the night sky I pretended to be my dad smoking a cigar being jovial over a drink with the guys he had met in the lounge the previous night. Mom quickly stopped me. The look on her face was that of deep concern. “Why you sad mommy?” my sister asked, I knew it wasn’t just in my mind, Florence had the same thought as me. Dad appeared rather annoyed. “what’s the matter Hugh?” my mother asked, “it seems we have hit an iceberg and they want us to get off the ship so they can inspect. it’s just a minor safety precaution they say’

My mother looked concerned she adjusted her hold on my sister and pulled me in close “well for a ship called the unsinkable a little bit of ice shouldn’t be a problem.” She declared for our benefit, but I feel like it was more to comfort herself “well the officer insists they want all of us to board the lifeboats while they inspect the damage to ensure the ship is okay. Lilian sweetheart don’t worry everything is going to be fine” he took Florence in his arms kissed mom on the cheek. She still seemed worried, but dad always knew what to say to comfort mom, comfort all of us really. She let a small smile towards dad he gestured over to the lifeboat that was being loaded with passengers.

People were huffing and scoffing as we made our way through the crowds that were now formed on the deck. Nobody was willing to get on the lifeboats saying how ludicrous the crew was being making them get out of their warm sleeping quarters for a minor aberration, in a way we all thought it was a bit silly, but we kept silent, father said it was better to just play along do as we were told. He just wanted to get away from all the passengers complaining, I think. He was a calm person who liked to gather all the facts first and make decisions based on his observations. He concluded getting on the lifeboats would be the best option just in case. Looking back on it now though I am glad he did. We made our way over, fortunate enough to be the final passengers loaded on this lifeboat before it began its descent below, as we lowered, we waved at the people in the lower decks as they made their way along the halls of the mighty titan. the officer in charge of rowing began maneuvering away from the ship as instructed after releasing the ropes once we landed safely in the ocean. It was a peaceful night I looked out into the vast darkness, and it made me feel a bit uneasy as it was difficult to see ahead as we were straying farther from the lights of the Titanic.

As we were rowing out someone shouted “oh my god everyone look at the titanic! Its sinking! Everyone turned, gasping in horror seeing the front of the titanic was much lower than the back half. Emergency rockets shot into the airs illuminating the sky’s above. The severity of what was happening hit us all in an instant. “What should we do?” one passenger cried out. “We have to go back,” shouted another. “There’s nothing we can do” uttered an officer on the boat. “There are plenty of lifeboats aboard to guarantee everyone’s safe return to shore” he said in a firm tone. that’s what we all hoped would be the case as we all sat in shock as the ship continued submerging into the sea. This escalated into horror and cries when suddenly the weight of the water seeping inside the boat quickly became too much and the front end sank, causing the back end of the titanic to shoot straight up into the air. It was an unbelievable sight to witness the titan standing tall. Thuds and bangs could be heard as everything inside the ship that was moveable was sliding and crashing down inside the ship. Screams could be heard as people were clinging on for dear life, sadly some people couldn’t manage and fell straight down into the open waters. I couldn’t even imagine what that must have felt like in those moments. Staring straight into the face of demise. Matters only progressed for the worse when the ship managed to snap right down the middle a great bright spark shot out an umbrella of light causing the entire boat to go dark. As the back half slammed down into the sea. The officers quickly started rowing the boat trying to get as far away as possible so we would not be thrown from safety to be devoured by the dark waters as well. Taking on water as quickly as the front did, the unthinkable happened, the vessel known as the unsinkable, was on it’s way to the bottom of the Atlantic.

The adults aboard comforted their crying children, mother consoled us and father consoled her as the dark screams could be heard all around. We felt helpless knowing their fates were sealed. The only thing anyone thought to do was sing church hymns to try to occupy our minds and fade out the screams during the night. Onward we went. The screams becoming quieter and less frequent as time went on. The officers who were rowing, cam together and tethered our rafts so we could move onwards as one big group. The lot of us sat quietly for the reminder of our efforts to reach land or another ship. Our joy seemed to have stayed with the titanic though. Yes, we all had our lives, but I couldn’t stop thinking about all those we left behind. What would happen to us I wonder? Would we be saved? Or would we succumb to the same fate as the unfortunate? We carried on for the remainder of the night. Luck was in our favor that day because in the early hours of daylight we flagged down another ship called The Carpathia. I was hesitant to want to get on another ship after what we just saw but I eventually mustered up the courage to board. They gave us blankets and hot beverages to warm us up. I was too flustered to want to go to sleep but my heavy eyelids would soon win.

We arrived in New York a few days later. Ready to start a new life within the new world with a new outlook on life. I never knew the people who perished that night, but I often wondered what would have become of their lives had they been rescued? From that day on I decided to live my life enough for all the people who didn’t get to experience theirs. They didn’t know what their outcome would be. I still don’t know what mine will be, but I knew I had to start living every day as if it would be my last. Live a life for the people who didn’t get to live theirs. I eventually did start traveling by boat again. I was hesitant, and only ever did journey if it the vessel did not claim to be “unsinkable’. As time went on aviation made traveling faster and safer. Thank god for airplanes