A/N: This is from the POV of Dan Duffy, a minor character from a relatively
unknown book called "1916" by Morgan Llywelyn. The boat is the Titanic.
Anything else you want to know, read the book. ;-) The Irish accent and
vernacular here was hard to write - therefore, do NOT be afraid to pick at
me for it! Please do! I've tried to fix it, but it's absolutely awful. (any
one that's Irish out there. . . ?)
We're goin' to sink. I know it. I tried to get out of 'ere to see Ned about half an hour ago. Some guard with a snooty Liverpool accent grabbed me by the collar and dragged me back down to steerage. I told him I had to talk to a friend up in second-class, that it was important. He said to me, "like an Irish boy like you knows anyone in second-class." You should've heard the way he said Irish. Och, I wanted to hurt 'im, the way he made fun of us. I should've. I should've beat 'im to bits and ran up to find Ned. But I didn't.
So I'm down here in steerage, and I'm going to die. They just locked the doors. *They locked us in.* They're going to murder us. We'll go down with 'er.
I try to calm the girl next to me. She's the pretty lass that Ned and I saw when we boarded. I never saw someone so agitated like she is now. Not even me ma, and that's saying somethin'. I tell 'er we'll all be fine, that this ship will never sink. I'm lyin' through me teeth, though. This big boat, she's a wonder - how *could* she sink? 'Ow is it possible? When I saw those smokestacks for the first time, like giant cigars stickin' out of 'er deck, I gasped. The sight of 'er was amazin'.
I wonder what she looks like now. Is she keelin' to the side? Is she risin' out of the water for a final fall? I wonder 'bout the motorcars below our berth - what the sea-water is goin' to do to them. All I know is that I'm locked below decks, deep in 'er belly. And she's goin' down, and I'm goin' down with 'er. I wonder what the sea-water will do to *me*.
She was hope to me. Me passage to Amerikay, the place with streets of gold. The place I'd make me fortune and be able to help me family. She was big and invincible and nothin' could hurt 'er. She was something to aspire to. . . something to be like. Aye, I wanted to be like a ship. I couldn't 'elp it. But she's not so invincible after all. I see the water seepin' in through the floorboards and the walls. It splashes near me feet. I reach down and touch it. It's cold.
We're all goin' to a watery grave.
We're goin' to sink. I know it. I tried to get out of 'ere to see Ned about half an hour ago. Some guard with a snooty Liverpool accent grabbed me by the collar and dragged me back down to steerage. I told him I had to talk to a friend up in second-class, that it was important. He said to me, "like an Irish boy like you knows anyone in second-class." You should've heard the way he said Irish. Och, I wanted to hurt 'im, the way he made fun of us. I should've. I should've beat 'im to bits and ran up to find Ned. But I didn't.
So I'm down here in steerage, and I'm going to die. They just locked the doors. *They locked us in.* They're going to murder us. We'll go down with 'er.
I try to calm the girl next to me. She's the pretty lass that Ned and I saw when we boarded. I never saw someone so agitated like she is now. Not even me ma, and that's saying somethin'. I tell 'er we'll all be fine, that this ship will never sink. I'm lyin' through me teeth, though. This big boat, she's a wonder - how *could* she sink? 'Ow is it possible? When I saw those smokestacks for the first time, like giant cigars stickin' out of 'er deck, I gasped. The sight of 'er was amazin'.
I wonder what she looks like now. Is she keelin' to the side? Is she risin' out of the water for a final fall? I wonder 'bout the motorcars below our berth - what the sea-water is goin' to do to them. All I know is that I'm locked below decks, deep in 'er belly. And she's goin' down, and I'm goin' down with 'er. I wonder what the sea-water will do to *me*.
She was hope to me. Me passage to Amerikay, the place with streets of gold. The place I'd make me fortune and be able to help me family. She was big and invincible and nothin' could hurt 'er. She was something to aspire to. . . something to be like. Aye, I wanted to be like a ship. I couldn't 'elp it. But she's not so invincible after all. I see the water seepin' in through the floorboards and the walls. It splashes near me feet. I reach down and touch it. It's cold.
We're all goin' to a watery grave.
