Hello, all. I am thinking about entering this short for a young writer's contest. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Today is my day. Everything gleams and everyone is impressed. People gasp and stare as they line up along the dockside. As the passengers begin to board I feel the heat rise in my boilers, ready to embark. My corridors and decks teem with life. Joy and wonder emanate from every person. I know it is almost time to go.
At last the call is heard. We start now. The switches are thrown and my engine judders into life. My propeller starts to rotate and I am away. All that lies between me and New York is the ocean. They say I am unsinkable, an ocean-going marvel. I am truly master of all I survey.
'Full steam ahead!'
It is two days in and I can finally kick up my heels. The engineers stoke my boilers and ready themselves to be twice as busy as usual. The gear switches are thrown: all ahead full.
The acceleration is unbelievable. I am no longer sailing through the water, I am flying over it. Glorious exertion! Hear this, sceptical world: 'Today RMS Titanic goes full steam ahead. Just you watch me run.'
We are making good time on the fourth day. We should dock in New York by the end of the week. I am still running on full steam when a chilling shout issues from the lookouts: 'Iceberg straight ahead!'
Almost within the blink of an eye my engine is stopped. They ease me back slightly, then try to port round the deadly obstacle.
The ice pierces my flank, so cold it burns. Water floods in through the gash, into my holds. I know in this instant that it is end.
Before long the panic rises amongst the passengers. The first class citizens rush for the lifeboats while the third class are held back behind the gates below decks. Much too soon the boats are used up. Over half my passengers are going to die.
I am sinking fast, the pressure on my hull increasing unbearably. Doomed passengers cling to the railings, holding on to each other for dear life. Some lose their grip and they fall, the freezing water causing extreme shock if not instant death.
The pressure becomes too much. I split down the middle. My ever fibre is ripped in two and the passengers scream. I am screaming too, although it cannot be heard.
Damned ignorance and cursed pride! Unsinkable, huh? It's just an empty word now, it cannot help anybody. I and my passengers will die tonight because I was not good enough. That's the worst pain of all. Knowing that I let so many down, it cuts deeper and colder than the ice. I entered the world as a marvel and I will leave it as a failure.