The Journey Home: Chapter One:
Surrounded by a horde of other desperate people, the woman felt her heart rate speed up as she anxiously checked to make sure her husband and children were safely beside her. She felt a sharp elbow in her back as someone tried to pass behind her, and she moved closer to her husband and the side of the boat.
She tried to keep a positive attitude in general, and for her children especially, but inside she was full of doubt, negativity and despair. Why wouldn't any country let their family in? They were good people - both her and her husband were teachers and her three children excelled at school and athletic activities. All of the family members even had passable knowledge of the English language. They had a lot to offer to their new country, if only someone, anyone, would see it. She had heard Canada was very welcoming and knew her family could be happy there and they could rebuild what was lost. Now it was only a matter of getting there.
She felt the boat lurch again and her husband automatically grabbed her arm to help keep her on her feet. Feeling slightly nauseous from the waves, the sea and exhaustion, she tried to fix her eyes on the horizon and use the calming techniques she had learned as a psychology student.
Filling her lungs with the tangy, salty sea air, she let out a deep breath. Looking out into the water, she dreamed of a better life for her and her family. It was so close she could almost taste it.
Their journey was only beginning and yet, it felt like they had been traveling for years. She missed having her own space; missed having room to hear herself think. The family had been traveling with hundreds of other families since they'd left home, and more or less stayed with the same people until the group had split into different boats to take them across the sea to Europe.
Crashing waves battered the boat and the woman took deep breaths to avoid becoming sick, even as her stomach rebelled. The meditation techniques she was trying weren't working nearly as well as she had hoped they would. Catching her older daughter's eye, she offered a reassuring smile and her fears were momentarily quelled as she saw her daughter's face light up in response. They would make it. Someone would take them in — they could not go back. The family must go forward and create new dreams together.
BAM!
A sickening, thudding crunch hit the bow of their midsized boat. She looked at her husband, noticing the fear in his eyes that mirrored hers, and began checking her three children over, making sure their life jackets were secure. Her husband next to her checked for the tenth time in as many minutes to ensure that their battered cell phone and all of their family papers were snugly secure in their waterproof sleeve. She saw him pat the sleeve under his threadbare coat and life jacket. Hopefully, she prayed, the documents would stay dry and secure. They would need them for their Canadian future.
She did the same — surreptitiously checking to make sure her own waterproof packet was secure as well. She had pinned the packet to her bra for safekeeping. It didn't contain much, just a few family photos and some emergency money they had managed to cobble together on the off chance her husband lost his coat during the journey. She had sewn the bulk of their savings, or at least what they had left over after paying human smugglers to get them to Europe, into the collar and lining of her husband's coat and was praying they would all make it through.
People closer to the back of the boat started to panic when they saw water start to rush into the boat. The woman craned her neck and saw that the crash had caused a baseball-sized hole at the bow.
She felt the air begin to change. Before the crash, there was a palpable sense of anxiety and excitement in the air — now the mood had turned to absolute fear. The section that her family was taking up on the deck became more and more cramped with every passing second. People toward the front of the boat began to make their way to the back of the boat, away from the gushing water. The deck became more cramped than ever and the family drew in closer together, forming a wall with their backs toward the midsection of the boat.
Gathering her children and husband, she checked their life jackets again and was almost a little pleased when she saw her middle daughter roll her eyes at her because of the repetitive attention. Good — all this chaos and confusion and her kids could still be kids, sometimes at least.
Weighed down by the combination of the people and the water continuously rushing onto the deck, the boat slowly began its descent into the depths of the Mediterranean Sea.
Dusk had fallen but the lights from various Italian coast guard boats and fishing boats lit up the sky. Her children were all strong swimmers, and the plan was to swim as far away from the boat as possible in the event of capsizing.
The two adults pushed the kids in front of them and managed to reach the side of the boat. She firmed her resolve, tightened her children's life jacket straps once again and helped her youngest child clamber over the side of the boat. Her husband helped their middle child and their oldest daughter quickly followed her brother into the water.
Her son and daughter swam away together, her husband and middle child started swimming together and she followed them into the water.
Adjusting to the water and the fading light, she began to swim away from the boat. The woman looked up from her front crawl and saw that her family had gone farther than she had expected. Trying to make herself heard over the screams of other people desperate to get off the sinking boat, she called out to her family. They turned around to face her and waved at her, gesturing for her to catch up with them.
She closed her eyes for a split second, opened her eyes to focus on her family and they were gone. Her husband and three kids had vanished into the sea.
Spinning frantically in the water, she paddled around, seeking any sign of them and screaming their names into the night sky. After what felt like hours of searching, she thought she finally saw her husband's head ahead of her in the water, accompanied by their three children. She let out a deep breath and started swimming toward them, shaking off her exhaustion and kicking her feet like mad in the water.
Just as she was starting to make some headway and the gulf to her family was finally closing, she felt a large hand grip her ankle. She tried to kick off the person, thrashing in the water in an attempt to extricate herself.
No.
This was not happening. She was not going to die today. She had a family to reunite with and Canadian dreams to fulfill.
The person holding her ankle began to claw their way up her body in an attempt to stay alive and above the water. She bobbed in the sea for a brief second and then began to sink slightly.
Up to her chin in water, with one last breath, she screamed for her husband.
HENRY!
And it all went black.
A/N: Please, please let me know what you think! I'm a little nervous about posting this particular chapter because it's a bit different, but just figured I'd rip off the band-aid. I'm planning about 3-4 chapters, I'm buried in refugee research (98% of which is just absolutely heartbreaking) and the second chapter is already finished. This is a topic that's been on my heart for years and this story just came to me and ¯\_(ツ)_/¯