The ship of dreams

Carpathia

We were in the lifeboats for what felt like an eternity, beside me I could hear Alyia shivering and snoring softly while she used my lap at a pillow. She was still wearing the crew members coat and was wrapped in a thick blanket, her lips weren't blue anymore, but her face was drained of colour. In the distance I could see the faint light of a ship," hey mister" I said to the crew member pointing in the direction of the ship, he squinted at the moving lights,"it's the Carpathia! We're saved!" I shook Alyia awake, "what?" she said sitting up, I pointed at the ship,"is that what I think it is?" I nodded, she grinned " finally."

"I had the weirdest dream" she said yawning,"I was in a room and there was a fish tank, there was a big fish and a little fish, the little fish started barking at the big fish then the little fish ate the big fish and turned into a spider and then I stabbed the spider." I stared at her wide eyed, "oh...that is weird." I guess Alyia had weird dreams, I mean who dreams about barking fish? " Maybe it was the hypo-whatever" she said, "I'm sure it was the hypothermia" I said laughing.

We were one of the last lifeboats to be loaded onto the Carpathia, we were all given blankets and tea as the crew went around asking for peoples name and class. My mom was sitting with her back to the side of the ship wrapped in a blanket and holding Joseph tightly to her chest, she was sleeping and her head lolled to the right a little, I hoped she was dreaming of something pleasant and not the events of a few hours ago. Alyia had been looked at by a doctor, he said she would be okay as long as she kept warm and got lots of rest.

I was leaning against the rail of the ship staring blankly at the ocean thinking about my dad, James and all of the other lives that had been lost. I pictured the Titanic, the unsinkable ship of dreams ripped in half and laying on the ocean floor with debris, plates, lounge chairs, luggage and bodies floating around it, I single tear escaped my eye and ran down my cheek.I started to think about how my life would be changed when someone taped me on the shoulder. I turned around expecting to see a crew member with a paper and pen ready to write my name down,but instead I saw a tall figure with jet black hair and green eyes. "James!" I exclaimed with a shaky voice, I threw my arms around him and he pulled me close, "thank God you're not dead" I whispered in his ear,"I told you I would see you soon" he said hugging me tighter.

He sat me down on a bench and tucked my matted hair behind my ear, "what happened to you? Did you get on a lifeboat?" I asked him, looking into his beautiful, deep green eyes,"yeah, I got on one of the last collapsible boats, they only put me on because they needed someone to row." "What about your mom and dad?" He looked down at his lap trying to hide the tears that had sprung to his eyes,"my dad went down with the ship playing with the rest of the band and my mom perished in the water." He started crying,"When I was rowing I hit something in the water, I looked over the side to see what it was. It was my mom, she was dead, her hair was frozen and her eyes were blank and lifeless." I started to cry for James, he was an orphan."Lily, you're all I have" he said turning to face me, I pulled him into a hug, " I'm so sorry James."

He pulled away from me sniffling," what about you? What happened?" "My mom and Joseph are over there" I said pointing at my snoring mother, I could that Joseph was drooling all over the blanket, gross! I thought to myself. "Alyia is in one of the cabins sleeping, we pulled her out of the water into the lifeboat, she had hypothermia, but she's alright." He smiled, remembering the awkward moment we had shared with Alyia, " I thought you said she was first class? Didn't they get put on the lifeboats first?" " Yeah, but she refused, she was too stubborn. She hated all the snobby people in first class." He chuckled, "what about your dad?" "My dad is dead, he never got on a lifeboat and there's no way he survived in the water." He wrapped his arms around me and I rested my head on his shoulder.

He turned to face me, suddenly serious, " I know this sounds stupid, but I feel like I've known you for as long as I can remember, but we've only known each other for a few days" he lifted my chin, making me look at him, which made me blush "I need you Lily" he leaned in and planted a soft kiss on my cheek, my heart soared. "Yes!" James jumped away from me, we turned around to see Alyia grinning at us, James blushed and I giggled. " Wasn't the full on mouth to mouth I was hoping for, but it's close enough" she said nonchalantly "Alyia!" Me and James said in unison, we all broke into laughter, it felt good to laugh like that with my two favorite people.

We were alive, James was an orphan, I lost my dad, but we were alive and we had each other.

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THE END