“What is your name?” the smart looking man with a small brown hat with a paper saying, “Press” tucked into the brim asked me.
“Bridget Clarke.” I reply.
“How old are you?”
“15, sir.” I answer, surprised by the number. It seems I have lived far more years.
“Ah, very young; what was it like on the Titanic?”
“It was… incredible. Brilliant, stunning, unforgettable; even though I wasn’t first class it was beautiful. For sure one of a kind, huge—“
“Unsinkable?”
I snort. “Far from it.
“No ship is unsinkable, Mr…?”
“Jones.”
“No ship is unsinkable, Mr. Jones. It was a silly thing to call it that but who was to know? It is sad that to prove the fact that no ship is unsinkable we had to witness such a catastrophic event. “
“Interesting… well said.
What was it like when it finally sunk?”
I pause and take a moment to ponder that night. I relive it every night; vivid nightmares. “It was terrific, unreal. I almost wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. It just seemed so impossible at the moment. The orchestra playing, the lights blinking out, the screams of people as the ship tipped all the way up and sunk into the water… just awful.”
“I’ve heard the silence afterwards was a silence that is unlike any other, would you agree?”
“Absolutely, the silence was unreal. It was absolutely quiet yet at the same time it was horribly loud. You could still hear the screams of the people—I still can.”
“Do you regret going on the Titanic?”
Ah, the question I had pondered ever since I had arrived in New York. After seeing my father’s crushed face, the funeral without the body, the letters of sorrow, the sobs, all the things I hated and had hoped would not happen for a long time. I breathe deeply, taking my time to formulate an answer that will satisfy this probing man.
“No. I don’t.” He raises his eyebrows.
“Sure I lost family and it was a traumatizing experience. But I grew, I learned, I made memories. I got to see the great Titanic. Sure it wasn’t unsinkable but it was still magnificent. I still traveled to America where I could start my new life. It was a treacherous journey. I was thrown into the water and caught in a current that if I swam against would just make it worse so I had to go with it and deal with what happened and get the most out of it. Fate is a cruel thing but it doesn’t happen ‘just because’. There is a reason that this happened to me, it is my duty to find out why it happened.”
