This is a short story that I wrote about the Titanic in 9th grade. It has been a while since this has been proofread, so I hope there aren't too many mistakes. The ending might feel slightly rushed, and that is because it was. Unfortunately, the writing assignment had a two-page limit so I had to wrap it up quickly. I might rewrite the ending at a later date. Thank you, and enjoy!
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RMS Titanic: The Story Of A Survivor
*ring* That sound, I know that sound. I thought to myself as leisurely made my way down to the docks. I was finally getting my chance to leave Southampton, a place I found dreadful, and travel to the place I've dreamt about, New York City. Then it hit me, the sound I heard, that's the clock tower. Panic set in, I couldn't miss the ship. I started at a dead sprint for the docks, my suitcase full of supplies for my journey bumping along behind me. I could see the docks in the distances, I was going to make it.
"Wait! Wait! I'm a passenger, I have a ticket!" I cried out, my short legs carrying me as fast as they could. I marched up to the loading platform, taken aback by how big the ship was. I stepped up to the door where a young man stood to greet me. I hurried past him
As the doors to the first class lounge opened I could hear whisper among me from the other passengers. Beautiful red carpets, glistening golden door knobs, high ceilings, and a grand staircase that led us to the dining rooms. A sweet scent filled the air, something floral, though I couldn't quite put my finger on it. This truly was the ship of dreams.
After spending the rest of the day exploring the ship I decided to venture down to my room. The ship had quite a confusing layout, with lots of unmarked hallways and dead ends. I imagine it would be even worse down in the second and third class corridors considering the number of rooms there are. I finally made my way down to my room where I unpacked my personal items and changed into more comfortable clothes.
I returned to the first class lounge and walked through the doors onto the deck. I couldn't help but feel left out, seeing all the couples and families mingling amongst each other. Unfortunately, my husband was not able to accompany me, though he was kind enough to pay for my ticket. There was a sea of people, none of whom I wanted to approach. Suddenly, someone caught my eye. I know her, I'm sure of it. A young girl who I assumed was about my age walked around the corner. Something about her looked so familiar. As I stare at her I realise that we share a striking resemblance. Short, long dark hair, a round face, and brown eyes. Weird. I decided that it was getting quite cold and there was nothing of interest to do outside.
I arrived back at my room. I was tired, but not tired enough to fall asleep so I decided to read a book out on my balcony for a short while. I've always found books dreadfully boring, but I had nothing else to do. As I flipped through my pages my mind began to wander. Who was she? Why does she look like me? Was I just imagining things? I finally decided to go to sleep. I lay down and start to drift to sleep.
*BANG*
I'm suddenly awakened by jolt following by a loud noise. It's a ship, they make noise, go back to bed. I tried to comfort myself, but I just had a nagging feeling that something was wrong, so I decided to investigate. I got up out of bed and put on a jacket. When I exit my room I can see that I'm not the only one awake, the hallways are filled. I waded my way through the sea of people, hoping to make it to the deck. As I ventured through the hallways and climbed the stairs it seemed people were growing more and more nervous. Had something happened?
I finally made it to the deck. At there very front of the ship, on the lower part of the deck, there were several chunks of ice. Big chunks, not hail storm sized chunks. A million thoughts were racing through my head. Had we hit something? Is the ship ok? I continued to worry and it seems that the people around me were as well. I hadn't noticed the captain arrive during my panic.
"Ladies and gentlemen. Please go back to bed. I assure you everything is fine. The Titanic will stay afloat!" His voice loudly rang out. You could tell by his tone that he was worried. The people around me also seemed to pick up on it. I for one was not going back to bed.
I quickly returned to my room to gather my valuables and a life jacket. Not wasting any time, I hurried back to the ship deck, but as I turn around one of the corridors I saw her. So she isn't a figure of my imagination, she is real. I contemplated going up to her, but I quickly come to my sense. The ship could be sinking! Get to the deck!
By the time I returned to the deck you could tell that something was happening. There was a heightened sense of fear among the crew and several passengers. I must admit I was taken aback at how calm the majority of the first class passengers were. That seemed to change when one of the ship captains announced that they were starting to load lifeboats. The ship was going down, I was sure of it. I hurried to the front of the line, not wanting to take any risks. People were attempting to push to the front of the line, some even tried to jump onto lifeboats as they were being lowered. Lifeboat after lifeboat left, and I grew more and more nervous. After what felt like forever an officer held his hand out to me offering to help me in a lifeboat. My heartbeat began to slow down knowing I wouldn't be on the ship as it sank, but I couldn't help but feel bad for the people were wouldn't be as lucky as myself.
Our lifeboat slowly started to drift away from the ship. Standing at the edge of the balcony was the girl. Only this time she was extremely pale. As soon as I saw her she seemed to vanish into thin air, just like before. Minutes quickly past as the Titanic took in more and more water. The force eventually became too much, and it split in half. After two hours it was completely underwater. You could hear the cries coming from the people who were in the water, as the night went on those cries faded. Six hours I was awoken from my peaceful sleep a rescue ship came to save us. Several days later we were dropped off at what was once my dream destination, New York City. The Titanic was the talk of the country. Newspaper articles, radio shows, and even movies were being written. A week after the whole ordeal I finally got my hands on one of those newspapers. On, the very front page, there was a list of the deceased. A tear ran down my face as I realised how many names there were, but as I was scanning something made me stop. The 18th name on the list was.. was mine. Surely that was a mistake. I'm not dead...
YOU ARE READING
RMS Titanic: The Story Of A Survivor
Short StoryElla embarks on a journey across the sea, leaving her old town of Southhampton behind to travel to New York City.