April 10th, 2212

Stella felt herself picking up the pace as she ran through the tall "grasses" of Woodchuck, Aliana. She whimpered when she listened to the angered noises of her father behind her. Quickly, she took a left, running into a dark, hooded forest where she hoped he wouldn't be able to find her. Her lungs taking in the prosthetic air, her legs stinging like she was racing against the Wallows. She could hear them calling for her; but she didn't dare look back. She couldn't turn back. She wasn't that dumb.

Finally, she reached a small opening in the middle of the forest. It seemed to give off an uneven aura; something purple mixed in with red, with a little bit of blue. The faux grass seemed to shimmer, as if there were sparkles mixed in the fake soil. Everything was fake. Stella hated it. She didn't know what it was like breathing in real air like they used to over two-hundred years ago.

But there was something different here.

The grass didn't look fake. It smelt… different. It looked different. Everything about this area was odd. But Stella continued to walk to the middle. There was a tall weeping willow, and even that looked odd. It was almost as if Stella was mesmerized by the beautiful tree, and as she walked under it, she became dizzy.

Then, everything went black…

︎ ︎ ︎

Adeline was awoken by the sound of someone knocking on wood. She squinted when she opened her eyes, but was met with a green canopy on the top of a bed she was currently lying on. Quickly she realized this wasn't her bed. She sat up and looked around her. The walls were golden, and striped with white wallpaper. The sheet on her was golden, and satin; something she had learned about in school, she never got to see it, however. She was sweating, and looked down at her attire. Her eyebrows furrowed, she wasn't wearing her own clothing. Instead there was an off-white top that was loose, and bottoms that were snug at the bottom.

"Adeline," came a deep voice from outside her door. "Come darling, we must get you boarded on the ship."

"What?" she croaked, and then cleared her throat.

"You must board the Titanic dear," the man responded, and then slowly opened the door. "You're not ready?"

The man was older, maybe in his sixties at the least. He had a beard growing, along with a mustache that were now mostly grey—almost white. He was dressed in a black tuxedo, and had a top hat upon his head. From what she could see, his hair was short.

"Oh dear, we're going to be late. Come on Adeline," he tells her, and grabs a dress from the chair in front of the bed. It was a tan color, with white lace over the the skirt of it. It had pearls around the neck area, and white lace at the end of the sleeves. "Hurry darling, change into this. I'll have Josephine come in and get your makeup done. Is your corset tight still?"

"I'm not wearing one," Adeline says, gulping afterwards.

"Oh my," he murmurs, and walks slowly to the green dresser on the other side of the room. He grabs a single cream colored corset from the drawers. "I'll go get Josephine to do this for you. Stay here dear."

Before she could reply, he was rushing out of the room, corset in hand. She sighed and sat back. She knew this was a dream. A corset? No one had used those for about three hundred years, right? She didn't know. She never learned specific years for clothing. Only that the Edwardian age was… in the early 1900's. What year was it?

"Hello miss," a young woman walks in with the corset. Adeline takes the time to inspect her.

Her hair was a golden color that reached a little past her shoulder, and was curled tightly. A blue dress was placed on her body, in the style of a maid's dress. She had green sparkling eyes, and was wearing black flats. She was skinny, but tall.

"Josephine?" Adeline guesses. Josephine looks up into Adeline's eyes. "What year is it?"

"Well 1912 of course," Josephine giggles, and helps Adeline out of dress. She takes off the pajamas Adeline was sweating in. "I can't wait to board the RMS Titanic!"

"What?" Adeline asks, looking at her in a confused manner. Josephine helped her into her corset before continuing:

"We'll see your father, and all of the officers, ooh! I'm so excited! They're all kind men. Do you remember any of them?"

"No," Adeline answers.

"Well, I'm sure your father, Mr. Andrews, will show you them again," Josephine says after she tightens the corset around Adeline's already small waist. Afterwards, she helps Adeline into the dress the man had given her. "Okay. Your great uncle is waiting for you. We already have everything packed in the car."

"Thank you," Adeline nods to Josephine. "I believe we're ready then."

"Yes," Josephine agrees, and grabs her hand. She starts to walk out of the door with Adeline in tow.

Josephine reminded Adeline of a girl from her village; someone that was always perky, yet nice and respectful. She was kind to others, but still she was always full of energy. That's how she thought Josephine was. She was kind and helpful, but seemed to be full of energy and happy. She hadn't known her for long, well, that she knew of. But she thought she could still make this assumption.

"Ah good, you're ready," her uncle says as they walk into the entrance area together. Adeline gives him a fake smile, and nods. "Okay, let's go then, shall we?"

He doesn't allow them to answer, instead, they all walk out of the house together. Adeline glances back at the house, and her eyes widened. She now realized how large the home was. It was a wooden house with white paint over it. They were in a large city, people swarmed around like bees trying to sting people. But they all were having fun.

"Okay, take her to the harbor," her uncle tells Josephine, and the maid nods.

"Yes sir," Josephine says, smiling at the elderly man. "Goodbye for now, Mr. Andrews."

"Goodbye Josephine," he nods at the maid, and then turns to his great niece. "And goodbye to you, Stella. We'll see each other soon again, okay?"

"Okay," Stella responds, and finds herself being pulled into a hug. She hugs the man back, and lets go once he does. "Thank you, uncle."

Josephine and her turn and start to walk together. Josephine talks about how Stella's 'father' is a shipbuilder by the name of Thomas Andrews. And how when he was younger, he made a small boat by himself. Ever since, he wanted to continue in ship building. Then he met Stella's mother, Helen. He never thought they'd get married; they hated each other at first. Then, the finally fell in love, had Stella, and another baby girl named Elizabeth.

"Oh she's a doll, isn't she?" giggles Josephine.

"Yes," Stella agrees, not knowing what the girl was talking about, or who Elizabeth really was. "How old is she again?"

"Oh about two years I reckon," Josephine says in an English voice, making Stella laugh quite loudly. "Your father doesn't want them coming aboard. But don't you remember? You were stuck on going. So he finally said yes."

"I see," Stella replies, and smiles at Josephine. "I can't wait to see my father."

She wasn't fully lying. She was excited to meet this man. A part of her was nervous of course. What if he wasn't a good man like she was thinking? What if he was scary, or didn't actually like her?

"What is the date today?" Stella asks Josephine.

"It's the second of April," Josephine answers in a happy voice. "Today the Titanic sets sail to Southampton, where it'll then go to Cherbourg, and then Queenstown."

Stella doesn't respond. The two finally reached the docks, and Stella's eyes widened. The ship was ginormous; the biggest thing Stella had ever laid eyes on! It was tall, long, the width was large, everything about it was massive. How was this ship able to sail without getting pulled down by its own weight? If it were to even touch anything it seemed like it would go down no matter what!

"This is large," this was the only thing Stella seemed to be able to say.

"Very," Josephine nods, and turns to the dark-haired beauty. "Your father had doubts about this very ship. This, and the other two, Olympic and Gigantic." She frowns. "The Olympic struck another boat, and sadly, Olympic now is lying at the bottom of the ocean."

"Oh," Stella whispers, and looks down at her feet.

"Stella, darling," she hears someone call, and she looks up. A man on the deck was yelling for her. "And Josephine, it's good to see you!"

"You too Mr. Andrews!" Josephine yells, and a soft smile appears on her face.

"Hello, father," Stella couldn't help but yell back. She wasn't sure if this was her father, but she was guessing so by his last name.

"This trip will be fantastic!" exclaims Josephine, and turns to board the ship.