My name is Elizabeth. I am 25 now and it has been 10 years since the horrendous night when the Titanic sunk.
I stepped out of my car to a sunny spring day. The sky was a clear crystal blue and there were no clouds to be seen. I looked ahead and there it was, ‘the Ship of Dreams’- as they called it. I always heard that it was big but I wasn’t expecting it to be that big! All I could hear were little children screaming with excitement: and all I could see were the thousands of people saying (what they didn’t yet know) their last goodbyes. I walked slowly and anxiously to the ship. A sudden chill of anticipation washed over me as I became just a few steps away from entering the ship. I was going to New York to visit my older sister who was soon to be married. The next thing I heard was my mother calling for me to hurry up onto the ship. I didn’t realise that I had stopped half way up the stairs daydreaming, and was holding up all the contented passengers. I was inside now and I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was incredible, like something I’ve never seen before! Everything was so clean and tidy. I could even see my own reflection in the floor! I looked up and it seemed as if there was no ending to the ceiling. The bellboy escorted us up to our deluxe suite, shortly along with our luggage. The room was astounding, far beyond anything I’d ever expected. My four-poster bed sat in the middle of my room with the bathroom and living room on each side. As my mother turned her back, I jumped onto the humungous bed in joy. That’s when I became aware of how comfortable the bed was. Unfortunately my mother turned back around before I could get off and sort out my dress again. She stared with an evil glint in her eye and then went over the same lecture she tells me nearly every day: “You are a young lady now Elizabeth, you cannot be going around acting the fool. That’s not upper class behaviour…blah blah blah!” I was only fifteen; I didn’t want to be like one of those boring, old, stuck up ladies! I started to unpack my things as the door opened and a crew member popped his head round the corner. My mother was furious that he didn’t knock… poor soul; He was only going to inform us that dinner was ready. I wasn’t too excited to hear this. I just wanted to be on my own in my room. Otherwise I would have to sit with my mum and her friends, listening to them blabbering on about the inadequate behaviour of the 3rd class passengers. Personally I don’t think people should be judged by class. Everyone deserves a chance to prove themselves. But there wasn’t much point of me saying this anyway… my mother never cared about my opinions and views in life. As I walked down the hall, I could smell the fresh aromas of my dinner wafting through the air from the kitchen below. My taste buds were tantalised as I hadn’t eaten for so long. My belly was grumbling as I got closer to the dinner hall! I stepped inside and followed my mother to the table. We sat down at a big round table with at least ten chairs circling it, which meant we weren’t eating alone! That night I had the best lobster I have ever tasted, with a few roast potatoes on the side. When dinner was finished I was finally free. My mother had gone off for a few cocktails with her friends and I was allowed to go to the suite. I got back into my room and did something I wouldn’t have been able to do if my mother had been there. I launched myself onto the bed and just stared into the beautifully decorated ceiling. Hours went by, and my mother hadn’t yet returned. Surprisingly, I was extremely bored. So I decided to sort out my clothes for the third time. Then it dawned on me. I could draw! I go to a private art school. I don’t know what else I would do if I didn’t go to an art school. It’s not that I’m not bright, because I am, in fact, very clever. However, I enjoy drawing so much more. I got out my sketch pad and pencils and I was off. When I start to draw, I go into a completely different world and forget about everything that is happening around me.
Suddenly the door swung open, and my mother strutted in. I looked at the clock and to my surprise; two hours had gone by since I started drawing-although it only seemed like thirty minutes. Days went by, in which time I made some friends. My mother, however, did not approve because they were 3rd class. But I still managed to see them when she was out with her friends. They were so nice to me, unlike the people at school. I didn’t really fit into the crowds at school. I was nearly always on my own. But these friends were different. They don’t have any expectations from me. They just see me for who I am on the inside. They are two sisters. Both the same age as me. One is called Emily and the other Grace. I have met their parents too. They are lovely. It’s weird being with two different kinds of people. 3rd class people get judged so much, and they get treated like they don’t even exist. However, they are probably the kindest people you will ever meet. Unlike the 1st class lot: they are treated like Kings and Queens but really they are cruel and manipulative. Everything was going so well…until that one dreadful night. I was sitting outside on the deck. It was a wonderful night for a painting. The sky was clear and only had the company of the brightly shining stars and the full moon that was smiling down at me! There I was…calmly painting away…just me and my sketch pad. Unexpectedly, I was knocked off the bench as the ship had collided with something. I cautiously got up and turned around to the ship drifting passed a huge ice-berg. I peered over the edge and saw lots broken pieces of the ice-berg floating alongside the ship. I didn’t really take much notice of it at first. I just sat back down and tried to rescue my painting that got ruined when I fell. When I finally gave up on the painting that could no longer become anything special, I went up to the suite. I turned the knob and opened the door to find my mum putting a life jacket on. I looked at her puzzled. Her eyes were filled with fright. She told me that the ship was going to sink and we needed to hurry to get to a life boat. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I stared motionless straight past her, not able to think at all. I snapped back to reality and watched her stuffing small objects that had a lot of sentimental value in her pockets. I panicked, put on my life jacket and ran straight down to the 3rd class floors. I searched frantically, trying to find Emily and Grace. It weaved my way in and out of all the hopeless families that were trying to get up to the deck before the all the life boats had gone. For there were not enough life boats for all the passengers on board. Meaning only half of the passengers could survive. And I am pretty sure which people would get the boats first! I looked into each of the rooms that were open. I was taken aback when I saw the state of the rooms. They were tiny! My bathroom was bigger than most of them. Each room had two double bunk beds and one little chest of drawers. I felt so sorry for them. There I was with my deluxe suite which I didn’t really need and meanwhile there were poor people down there with the simplest of accommodation! After 20 minutes I finally managed to find them. They were crying hysterically. They thought that they weren’t going to get to a life boat in time. We ran together to the deck like racing horses. I saw my mother and we went straight to her. She started to shout at me for leaving her, and when she saw that I was with Emily and Grace her was red as if it were about to explode. She was fuming. Luckily she was told to get on the boat before she was able to kill me! I wasn’t really scared of her though… I was too traumatized to see the atmosphere around me. Little babies were screaming of horror, not having a clue of the fate that awaited them. Parents had floods of tears running down their cheeks like a waterfall, holding their children close by for comfort. Now I was no longer with Emily and Grace. They were with their parents trying to get into a boat. There was chaos in the air: people were jumping off the half sunken ship hoping for one last chance to live. At last, me and my mother sat ourselves down into one of the boats alongside many other women and children. No men were allowed onto the boats until all women and children were safe and secure. However I was slightly relieved when I saw Grace, Emily and her mother on the same boat as me. Although sometimes I really do wish I would never had met them. I will never forget their faces... as white as milk as if they’d just seen a ghost. Their father was still on the Titanic and we all knew that that was the last time they were going to see each other again. Together they cried a river; clenching onto their mother’s arm as tightly as possible.
I tried to hold myself together but I couldn’t remain calm anymore. Someone would have to be heartless not to be sad at a time like that! I burst into tears. It had been thirty minutes since I got into the life boat, and still there was no order on the deck! It was even worse now. Two men had been shot dead for trying to jump onto the boats. Then we were slowly lowered down…and soon enough on our way to safety. Even-though we were all safe we were no-where near happy. It was all silent, apart from the occasional sniffles coming from Emily and Grace. We watched the boat getting closer and closer to voyaging to the bottom of the ocean; and prayed for all the innocent lost souls. Suddenly the ship roared fiercely and split in two. The bottom half smashed the water and plunged straight to the bottom. My heart skipped a beat…all I could see were bodies being catapulted into the water- hitting it like a tonne of bricks. Soon after, the top half followed like a baby following its mother. The sky was filled with pain and sorrow and not long after, the moon too shed it’s tears heavily down on us.
Slowly we drifted away into the dark night, with nothing but memories of our loved ones that we had lost! If only we could turn back time and miss hitting the ice-berg…if only!