The Horrible Sinking
"Mum, Mum I forgot my sailboat!" seven-year-old Brian McKee told his mother.
"We can't go back now, Brian, they'll be lettin' us up soon," she replied.
"But my boat…"
"Hush," his father told him.
The McKees had boarded the RMS Titanic nearly 4 days ago from Queenstown, Ireland. It was the biggest boat Brian had ever seen. It had hit an iceberg and now it was sinking. The steerage passengers, like him, were being locked behind a gate like prisoners.
"I'll get my boat," Brian thought. "I'll get it."
When his parents weren't looking he slipped away from them and climbed the stairs down to "G" deck. He walked towards his family's cabin dragging his heavy lifebelt behind him. Suddenly the lights blinked and then went out. Brian screamed and flattened himself against the wall. Then he felt his feet sting with cold. Water was rushing into the corridor.
"I gotta' get out of here," Brian thought and turned blindly towards the way he came. The lights flickered back on and he started running. He got to the gate but no one was there.
"Mum! Da!" he screamed, his voice echoing though the ship. No reply came. He walked though the open gate and quickly climbed flight after flight of stairs. He had no idea where he was going. He just knew he had to get on an open deck. Finally he came to the Boat Deck. People ran around in panic. By now the deck was dangerously tilting and all the lifeboats were gone.
"Stay calm, everybody just stay calm!" a member of the remaining crew was calling. "You there!" he said to Brian, "Put your lifebelt on!"
Obediently Brian pulled it over his head and fastened the straps the way his father had taught him. He had never been more afraid in his life. He called for his parents again and a few people turned around but once they saw he wasn't their child they went back to whatever they had been doing. The bow of the ship was partly underwater now. Brian saw distress rockets go of. They reflected in his deep green eyes and made his red hair shine.
"Fireworks!" he whispered and pointed along with the other remaining children.
"Where are yor parents?" someone suddenly asked him. It was the same man who told him to put on his life belt. His badge read: Second Officer Lightoller. Brian shrugged.
"Can you swim?" Officer Lightoller asked. Brian nodded.
"Good," he said. "I'll lift you over the railing and you need to swim as far away from the ship as you can." Brian backed away uncertainly.
"Don't worry, it'll be alright" Lightoller reassured him. "The lifeboats will be back soon. They had to row away for the suction." When Brian still didn't seem agreeable the officer added, "You can't be on the ship. Dangerous waves will come up as soon as the deck is underwater."
Fathers and mothers where lifting their children over the railing and others where jumping. Before Brian could stop him, Lightoller had lifted him over the railing. He screamed as he plunged into the water. Bitter tasting seawater filled his mouth and nose. Remembering what Lightoller had said, he started swimming away. His father had taught him to swim a long time ago. All of a sudden a thundering crack filled Brian's ears. He, and several other people, turned towards the ship. The Titanic was starting to split right down the middle.
Many other people were in the water and, like Brian, were swimming away. The sea was so very cold and they all knew they had to get out of it soon. Brian turned again to watch the ship. The huge stern was sticking up in the air with all three propellers visible. It was slowly slipping into the water. People fell, screaming, and crashed into the icy ocean. A piece of a broken deck chair floated by Brian and he heaved himself up on to it. He must have fallen asleep because that was the last thing he remembered.
Twenty minuetes later Brian woke up from a deep sleep.
"Is there anyone alive out there?" a man's voice was calling. Brian looked around and saw a lifeboat full of people. With difficulty he sat up.
"HELP!" he called waving his arms.
"Brian?" a familiar voice called.
"Da? Mum?" Brian called back. Mr. and Mrs. Mckee were in the lifeboat.
"Papa!" Brian called again and started swimming. Two men grabbed the coller of his lifebelt and pulled him into a small collapsible lifeboat.
Epilogue
Brian and his family were all pulled from the water on that cold morning by the
people of collapsible lifeboat D. Other families weren't as lucky. Nearly 1,500 people perished in the sea on April, 15, 1912. At around 4:30 am the 705 surivers were rescued by the Carpathia, a smaller ocean liner. The McKees continued to New York to live in Brooklyn. Brian could never easily talk about the horrible sinking but always appreciated how lucky he was.