At Sea…Night of April 14, 1912
"Don't panic, It's going to be alright just don't panic." I assured myself. Ruthie stood by me her face pale from the bitter cold, confused. They had to be here somewhere, anywhere, Mrs. Sage just wouldn't leave us like that. "Dorothy? Mrs. Sage? ANYONE?" I screamed and felt my voice split. It was no use. Nothing could be heard over the screeching voices of the other doomed passengers. Ruthie was clutching my waist, and it seemed like she had finally comprehended what happened. Bodies were everywhere, running from an unknown threat, screaming bloody murder. "Please god no! Don't let them have left us! Please!" I muttered a heartfelt prayer, wondering if God was really listening. The cold ate at me until soon my bones were chilled. I suddenly realized that as much as I hoped and prayed, the Sages weren't coming back.
"C'mon Ruthie, we have to get in a boat." I said, tugging on her frozen fingers. "Eva I thought there was none left." She said lightly, as if trying not to make a big deal out of the situation, but fear had crept into her into her usually warm eyes. "No Ruthie, we'll find one, it's ok don't worry." I lied to her and myself, wondering if we were going to live through the night.
…
…
…
The wooden decks of the ship were slanting even more, and water was slopping over the bow. We only had a few minutes left. I pulled Ruthie to the railing of the ship and looked over. Lifeboat were rowing slowly away from the catastrophe, soon they would be out of our reach. My mind debated for a moment and then I realized that there was only one thing we could do. I kneeled down and tightened Ruthie's lifebelt. "We're going to go on another adventure ok?" I said into her ear. Ruthie looked up at me and nodded, her lank curls shaking slightly. I drew her close into an embrace and she put her skinny arms around my neck. "We're gonna live alright?" I told her. She had started to sob into my shoulders and I held her tighter. "It's ok." I said, "It's going to be ok." In that moment everything around us faded, all our troubles, all our hopes, all our worries. It was just Ruthie and I clinging to each other for dear life. We parted and I wiped Ruthie's tear stained face. She smiled slightly and took my hand. Together we walked closer to the inclining bow, stood up on the railing, and jumped overboard.