Titanic was called the ship of dreams. My father was letting me tag along with him on her maiden voyage, with a third class ticket stuffed away into the front pocket of my knapsack, a safety pin punctured through to keep it steady. We were headed off to America, to New York. Daddy said that is where we were going to live for a long time, and that I had better get used to it. Even by my young age, I could tell that he didn't say it in an upsetting way, he was just a little sick that night (he had some friends over, and they were drinking something called Vodka). I knew that my life was about to change, but in what way I was as clueless.
My name is Kora. I am eleven years old, with dark brown curly hair, brown eyes, and "pinch-able" cheeks. I always wear torn and tattered clothing, or scattered rags that we'd come across in the dark alleys of Southampton. My family is broken, with only my father and me remaining in this place that we call the world.
My home was taken over, burned, and destroyed as a young girl; forcing my father and me to flee as my mother was stolen away from us by the soldiers who wore an ugly shade of green resembling the underside of a leaf on their pants, shirts, and faces. They were unharmed by my father's violent attempts to retrieve my mother, for they also wore large helmets the shade of pain. What I was most terrified of though, as I stared into their eyes, and onto their determined faces, what the shade their faces bore. For it was not a happy shade, nor a shade of faith or dread. My young eyes could only sense the color of death painted across their emotionless faces as they shoved my father away into the burned bushes and took my mother away.
Even though all of that is still embedded into my memories, it is all behind me, as I look to the journey ahead of me on the Ship of Dreams, on Titanic.
It was finally April 10th. I was finally awoken by my fathers gentle hands placed upon my resting arms, and was calmly told to slip on my shoes, and quickly follow him to where Titanic lay, preparing for her journey ahead. I did as I was told, and before I knew it, I was being pulled along behind my father at a very quick pace, as we weaved through the thousands of people bustling to where Titanic was to departure. I was trying to hang on with all of my might, slipping a few times, but gripping into my fathers grasp once again, each time his hand gripping on tighter and tighter onto mine every once and a while.
As we neared Titanic, the assembly of crowding people became larger and larger still. Eventually my father slowed his pace to a quick walk, and we hurried our way through the mob of passengers and their families. We eventually reached the board that they called a gate, showed the uniformed man our tickets, and sent our luggage over to where another uniformed man was passing it to another man who was standing in a doorway of Titanic. The last man, who was obviously auspicious enough to actually be on Titanic, turned around, and the many bags were slowly disappearing onto the ship.
My father directed me to yet another uniformed man, who pointed me in the direction of a woman in a white trench coat. I slowly and nervously walked over to the woman, and she told me her name was Dr. Brennan, and asked me a few questions about my family and my health. She quickly tested me for a few illnesses, then gave me a small, and poorly cut piece of yellow paper, and told me to hang onto it tight until I reached the entrance gate again. Then she said I was to give it to the soldier who asked for it as I entered Titanic.
My father suddenly appeared next to me, laid his hand on my shoulder, and gently pushed me to the entrance gate once again. The man observed our yellow slips, seized them from our grasps, and put them in a basket that a man next to him was holding at his shoulder. He then unlatched the red rope that was blocking our way, and told us to proceed up the long board of wood up into Titanic.
This was it. My life was about to change. I started the walk down the long plank to the ship, lifted one of my feet, and stepped over the edge of the board and into the ship. Suddenly the voices of the men around me were overpowered by a dreadful cranking sound. I searched around me, and found that the uniformed men were getting ready to bring the entry board into the ship, so that it wouldn't be seen dragging through the ocean, frightening away all of the undersea creatures. I turned my gaze back onto Titanic's interior, only to be shoved away quickly by a hurried blonde man and his friend who both looked to be about twenty in age. My father swore quietly, and we then proceeded deeper from the outside world to find our cabins.