The Titanic: A New Life

Chapter 6

It was the night of April fourteenth, 1912 when I heard a shudder emanate through the boat.
There was a dull throb in my head from sleeping on the floor, and I was careful not to wake Michael as I awakened Marilynn, who asked me what was wrong.
"I just heard the boat shake," I explained worriedly. "I'm scared, and I think something is not right."
No sooner had these words escaped my mouth did I hear a frenzy of footsteps down the hall and a pounding on the door.
My mother woke from her slumber and wearily staggered towards the door, obviously drunk again. She was rubbing the sleep out of her droopy eyes as she approached the door, her heavy breath reeking of strong alcohol.
"I assume your news is of utmost importance?" mother snapped impatiently, not happy in the least that she had been awakened, the alcohol she had obviously had slurring her words.
Suddenly, we heard the beat of footsteps down the hall increase, with added screams and shrieks thrown into the mix of sounds.
For some peculiar reason, I felt panic swell inside me. I couldn't place a finger on why. It just happened.
"As a matter of fact, it is, madame," the crew mate informed us quickly, ignoring the fact that my mother was clearly drunk as she steadied herself by clutching the door tighter. "The ship seems to have struck an iceberg, but, we assure you, we will be fine."
My eyes widened with fear, and I had a sudden urge to sprint out the door and hurl myself into the water, which I had resisted. I just knew something bad was going to happen.
But another thought popped in my head as I listened on: I was right! I knew we were going to run into an iceberg! But the captain didn't listen to a rambling thirteen year old.
I felt rage boil inside me. It didn't last very long, though. How could I stay mad at the only man who had ever had the chance to be my father?
I wanted to run outside and see what was going on, but my mother simply shrugged it off and closed the door.
That was going to be the biggest mistake we could have made that night.
About an hour after my family had settled down to fall back asleep, I woke them up, noticing the water flooding in through the window next to mother's bed. It must have burst open from the pressure of the water. I knew something was wrong! Right again!
"Wake up!" I cried, terrified of what was happening. Even after reading that safety manual, I didn't know what to do. "We're sinking!"
I first woke Marilynn.
I shook her until her eyes shot open and I told her to grab everything she could. She packed all of the belongings she could fit in a lightweight trunk while I pulled Michael out of his bed and gingerly handed him to Marilynn. I went to wake mother as she headed for the door.
"Wake up, mother!" I screamed, unable to move her. Even after all she had done, I didn't want her to die. We still needed her.
Marilynn approached me as I grabbed our guardian by the shoulders. When I rolled her over, her eyes were staring at me in a hollow way, unseeing. She had a smile pasted on her face that didn't waver as I processed what the problem was... my mother had died in her sleep.
I knew exactly what had happened as I looked solemnly into her glassy eyes. She drank too much alcohol, and it destroyed her from the inside.
Now she was gone.
I explained this to Marilynn, who wept softly as I realized something: I had no time to mourn for her. None of us did. Michael hardly knew what was going on.
As more water seeped into our quarters, I knew we had to leave or end up like that woman we had to leave on the bed that night.
We dressed quickly and hurried onto the overcrowded deck, where officers were holding people back from getting to the safety boats. Why were they holding those passengers back?
"What is going on?" we asked the captain, who stared at us with wide eyes.
"Are you mad?!" he shouted, causing us to take a step back. His voice was so commanding. "Get on one of those boats! You are the only children I have left! Hurry, before it's too late!"
"Women and children only!" the officer at the lifeboats boomed. Behind him, two brave men were slowly lowering lifeboats into the water.
It was then that the idea finally clicked in my mind: we didn't have enough lifeboats for everyone to make it off the boat alive.
Marilynn pushed herself to the front with a sleepy Michael in her arms, calling out to the members of the newest lifeboat. I kept quiet the whole time, not wanting to worry her more than I already was.
"I'm scared, Laurie," Michael sobbed, crying hard.
"It's going to be alright," I soothed, trying my best to be as motherly as our's had never been.
Teardrops streamed down Marilynn's beautiful face as she went to hand Michael to the officer. There was a fair amount of space between the edge of the Titanic and the elevated lifeboat.
"Take care of him," Marilynn whispered with glassy eyes and a hoarse voice. That could have been the last time we saw Michael.
But, when Marilynn went to hand Michael to one of the members already on the boat, the wind whipped hard around us. This caused the weight of the vessel to shift, shaking the boat. The woman who was reaching out for my brother fell backwards and Marilynn tipped forward, losing her grip on Michael and letting him drop right into the freezing water of the ocean!
We watched on in horror as our little brother plummeted towards his doom, screaming the whole way.
When he hit the water with a deafening smack, we knew he couldn't have survived a fall from our height.