Aboard The Titanic

Chapter 1

April 10th, 1912

I try my hardest not to fidget as I wait my turn on the second-class gangway of the White Star Line's newest ocean liner. My patience is fading but at least we are far from the rats on the Southampton dock below, which is crawling with them. Of course though, some people up here might consider me a rat. A rich-looking lady in front of me eyes me warily, even though I am dressed in a flowing white dress my mother bought for me before we left home. But a lifetime of dodgy looks teaches you how to ignore them. Haven't I already survived the journey to London? A full four days of travel, packed in a smoky railcar, next to a woman who stank of sardines. Here we are now, so close to the finish line, the smell of saltwater and engine smoke wafts near my nose. Several stories above in either direction, passengers crowd the ship's deck waving to all the onlookers who are waiting to watch the departure. I look up to the ship and see nothing but a wall of black, and white stately letters that march across the side: "TITANIC". On the third-class gangway passengers sport a variety of interesting costume. Headscarves, fringed shawls, tasseled caps, straw hats, and plain dungarees. I don't see a single Asian face among them, I guess me and family are the only ones. The line shifts and only a few more passengers are ahead of us.

A woman behind me clears her throat. I'd been so lost in my thoughts I hadn't realized my family was already at the entrance of the ship and I ran to catch up. The officer watches my mother pull our tickets from her bag. "Maria Sanchez, this is my husband Lucas Sanchez, and our children Laura and Liza Sanchez". I eyed how nervous my mother and father looked and kept my head down at my feet. The officer glances at our tickets, then back at us, with his cheekbones that looked sharp enough for a bird to land on. His navy visor with its distinctive company logo -- a gold wreath circling a red flag with a white star. "Where's your destination?" He asks us. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, weren't we going to New York like everyone else?  "New York, same as the rest." My father answered. "New York huh? Where's your documentation?". My mother rushed to pull out all of our documentation from her purse. The gangway shifts uncomfortably causing me to stumble backwards a bit. I watch closely as the officer exchanges a look with the crewman who holds the passenger log. "Sanchez?" He asks. "Yes" My mother nodded quickly. "You're Chinese, right?" The officer assumes. Chinese?  We were far from Chinese but my parents decided it was safer to just nod and play along.

"Welcome aboard the Titanic" The crewman says in a bored voice. My sister stays disturbingly close to me as we walk onto the heaven of a ship. My mother wraps an arm around each of us, as we push past people and walk towards the sleeping chambers. "Room 402" My father points to a door down the never-ending hallway. I open the door to the room and see a pretty girl about my age lying down on a bed face forward. She sits up and looks at us setting down our stuff on the opposite side of the dormitory. I make my way over to her and outstretch my hand. The mystery girl grips my hand firmly and shakes it. "My name's Margaret Williams, and who might you be?" She asks politely. "Laura Sanchez" I smile down at her. "Lovely, the ship boards in five minutes. Might you want to go up on the deck and wave goodbye to the folks at the dock?" Margaret questions. I nod. " I would love that, thank you for asking" A big grin forms on my face. Margaret leaps up and grabs my hand. "Liza? Mother, father?" I ask seeing if anyone else wants to come with us. "You go have fun Laura, we'll be fine right here" Mother answers. Margaret smiles a heavenly smile at me. Such a perfect girl like her should be up in First-Class.

We laugh, our boots making a thundering nose as we run down the carpeted halls. Margaret seems to know her way around the ship after only being here for 1-2 hours at most. We ran up the stairs and onto the deck. A cool ocean breeze hits my face. "Look at all these people!" Margaret exclaims. Hundreds of people crowd the deck, and there are more people on other open parts of the ship. We push and prod past many people until we reach the rim of the deck on the right side. Two young men run up beside us and begin waving to the people on the dock. "You know somebody?" One of them asks with an Italian accent. "That's not the point" The blonde one answers. "Goodbye!" Margaret shouts waving her hand around wildly. "Goodbye England!" I scream. "I will miss you all very much!" Margaret exclaims blowing kisses like she's some famous movie actor. I watch as she pulls her hat off and waves it around in the air. A loud horn sounds making the ground tremble beneath my feet. "We're leaving!" I cry. Margaret chucks her hat towards the dock where it hits a young woman who shrieks in fear. We burst into fits of giggles. I see the blonde young man smile and try to conceal his laughter. "Hey what's your name?" Margaret asks the two gentlemen. "Jack and this is my friend Fabriozo". I smile at both of them. "I'm Margaret this is my friend Laura" She beams pointing to me.

"We'd better head down now, see you two around!" Margaret waves goodbye and pulls me away. "They were nice" Margaret blushes. I nodded in agreement, because I didn't know what to say.

{time skip}

The day passed quickly from so many festivities on the ship. I looked out the window from my room and saw the sunset. "It's so beautiful, all the colors" A soft voice said from behind me. I turned around to see Margret behind me staring out the window. "It is beautiful" I replied.