PROLOGUE
Dark storm clouds moved overhead bringing the strange sense of calm that is always there before the worst kind of storms. I looked out of my cabin window to see black water crashing upon the sides of the cruise ship. A horrible storm was coming and we were several days away from the nearest port. Every thing I remembered about the Titanic rushed back to me in that moment. I could picture myself in the same situation on the cruise I was on at that moment.
Soon, rain came pouring down from the dark storm clouds covering the sky. The force of the waves seemed to increase with the heavy rainfall. My stomach churned within me as my eyes stared out the window at the raging storm. Images of my family flashed through my head. I had no idea if I would ever see them again.
With each passing moment the storm's intensity increased. I could barely stand upright with the tossing of the ship. Suddenly, the boat shook, violently knocking me off my feet. After the shock, the boat seemed to no longer be moving and the rain seemed to still be falling but make no sound. The only thing to be heard was a strange creaking sound coming from deep within the ship. I slowly rose to my feet, only to be thrown back down by a second blow. Finally, I managed to stand up, but when I looked out the window I almost wished I had not. Everything outside was slanted at a sharp angle. The boat was sinking.
All of the fear that I had felt earlier felt like it had been multiplied by one thousand. Screams from the lower levels echoed below as people realized what was happening. At least I was near the front of the ship. Natural instincts taking over, I gathered a few clothes into the smallest suitcase I had and briskly walked out the door. Others had had the same idea; women were trying to comfort their crying children as they ran to the front of the ship.
Everyone was freaking out and running like madmen. The boat was tilted upward as it slid, making it hard for small kids to reach the front of the boat. At the front of the ship, crew members were lowering small orange lifeboats, filled to the brim with passengers, into the dark waters below.
As I stared wide-eyed at the chaos around me a young man in a white uniform ushered me towards the lifeboats yelling, "Miss, you need to get in one of the lifeboats. The ship is sinking and it won't be long before the front of the ship goes down!" I turned back to respond but the man had already disappeared into the mass of people now gathered at the front of the ship.
I looked down from the ship's railing to see the flimsy lifeboats being battered on all sides as they attempted to reach the island. One particularly full one was overturned by the force of a great wave that rose above it. Something inside me knew that none of those tiny boats would ever make it to that island. Another small part of me reasoned that the lifeboats were my only chance for survival. Those two opions warred in my mind as I watched boat after boat be swept into the dark depths of the sea. Finally, after seeing way too many people be sucked under the unforgiving waves I decided I would have to find another way onto the island.
After hearing at least three crew members told me variations of, "Miss, the ship is sinking rapidly; you need to get on a lifeboat," I made it to the captain's office. With the disaster unfolding around I decided to ignore formalities and push the door open.
Inside a pudgy man with light brown hair sat eating some sort of cake. He was so startled by my appearance that he dropped his slice of cake right onto a stack of papers that was sitting atop his cherry wood desk.
The walls were covered with various sea objects such as compasses and maps. A large painting of a ship took up most of the back wall behind the desk. Dusty dark wood planks covered the floor.
"Passengers are not allowed in the captain's quarters," the man grumbled angrily as I stepped through the doorway. He looked extremely mad at the loss of his cake.
Ignoring him I began the short speech I had devised on the way, "Sir, as you probably know the ship is kind of sinking out there. The lifeboats you have out there are taking more lives than they're saving! We must find another way to get on that island out there!"
The captain craned his neck to look out the large porthole to his right. "What island? I only see that blasted iceberg out there! Oh the irony that our Titanic themed cruise would be taken down by an iceberg! What genius thought it would be a good idea to have a Titanic cruise anyways?" Confused, I too looked out the porthole to find the same island I had seen earlier, unchanged. Just to make sure I blinked my eyes several times ,but it brought no change to the image outside.
"I'm pretty sure that's an island. It would be pretty hard to mistake a giant piece of land with trees on it for a chunk of ice floating in the sea."
His face turned red as he screamed, "Are you trying to say that I'm stupid or something!? Get out NOW!" With that, he got up out of his leather chair and pushed me out the door, slamming it in my face. Without the aid of the captain I had no chance of finding another way off the boat. Finally, I resigned myself to my fate and joined other passengers aboard one of the few lifeboats remaining.
A young boy with damp red hair and a smattering of freckles on his face sat across from me. He gave me a sad smile as we all took up our oars and began to row out into the endless black sea. The waves felt even stronger than they looked from above. Water sprayed at our faces every time we moved, which was constantly. Every time we made a little headway a large wave swept us back to where we began.
My arms were aching as I continued to push my oar with as much power as I could. The wind blew my chestnut hair out of its ponytail and it whipped in front of my face. Nature seemed to use everything in its power against us. An old woman began muttering a prayer in a language I could not understand.
Without any warning, a massive wave rose up and came down upon our little boat. I was swept out of the boat and dragged down by the powerful force of the current. In vain I attempted to swim to the surface. My lungs burned for air as I was slowly pulled down into the darkness. It didn't take long for my struggles to cease. My eyes finally closed and I allowed the darkness to consume me
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I'm currently working on the first chapter of this story. Thank you for the nice comments you've left. Please vote and comment if you read it and liked it! Thanks :D XOXO
- Me :)
