At Sea…Night of April 14, 1912
I felt my stomach flop over, and I braced for the impact. Ruthie was gripping my hand with her eyes closed. Then it happened. With an immense crash we broke into the water's face. All that met me was cold, stabbing like knives every single place in my body. It was overwhelming, my feet and fingers soon became numb and I quickly was unable to feel my toes. Ruthie's hand was torn from my grasp and for a moment I was under water, utterly alone. My head broke the surface and I came up coughing and spluttering, gasping for air. The familiar screaming sound of the passengers met my ears again, and my eyes darted across the other swimming bodies. "Ruthie!" I screamed, "Ruthie! Where are you?" A minute later a head shattered the surface of the Atlantic. "Eva!" yelled the voice, "Eva!" I started to swim to the small body. "Ruthie!" I answered. "I'm over here!" Ruthie turned and started to paddle over to me. "Are you alright?" I asked her yelling over the other voices. "Y-y-yes." She said. Her whole body was shaking wildly. "Ruthie I need you to swim alright?" I bellowed. She looked at me and shook her head. "I ca-can't, it's t-to cold." Ruthie teeth chattered madly. "You have to Ruthie!" I seized her icy hands and pulled her, treading in the water, towards the far away lifeboats.
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Ruthie was shaking uncontrollably, and my wet hair was frozen on my head. "Just a bit farther." I moaned, out of breath. Ruthie's breathing had become ragged and I watched the cloud of frost that formed every time she exhaled. I couldn't feel my hands and with every kick my legs screamed in protest. The lifeboats were so close now I could see the expressions on the people's faces. I gathered all my energy and yelled, "Please help us! Please!" I pleaded. The officer rowing the boat turned around and we made eye contact. "Please." I cried. Ruthie was paddling next to me, her lips purple and face pale. The officer looked at the passengers in the boat, they had just noticed us, the small and quivering bodies that floated a few feet away. One of the women in the boat yelled, "What are you waiting for? Go get them!" The officer reluctantly turned the boat around, and started rowing towards us. Just then I started to cry, though the tears seem to freeze on my face. We were going to live.
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Ruthie and I were fished out of the water by many helping hands, and still shuddering, we took our seats. "Here dear take this." I recognized the voice of the lady who had yelled for the officer to go back. She handed us a large fur coat. "Thank you." I said and wrapped it around Ruthie who was shivering irrepressibly. Then I turned and watched in horror. The ship was tilting so much that it almost stood vertical.
"Papa." Ruthie cried, tears sliding down her shaking cheeks. Passengers were dumped into the water, shrieking so loud now that my ears hurt. The moment had finally come, an earsplitting cracking sound filled the air. The Titanic's s stern had been ripped from the bow, and for a moment it stood bobbing like a cork. Everyone in our lifeboat was silent in awe. Then slowly it slipped, down faster and faster until it disappeared into the freezing Atlantic. Ruthie laid her head down on my shoulder, "Eva?" she whispered. I looked down at her. Her eyes, the deep wells of love and hope that I had been accustomed to, were shadowed. "Ruthie don't be scared, it's going to be ok, we made it." I told her softly, trying to drown the cries of the passengers out of my mind. "I'm not scared." She said. "I'm with you."
I hugged her close to me trying to warm her shivering body. "I love you." I said softly into her ear. Ruthie looked up at me, "I love you to." Her voice said faintly. Ruthie's breathing had become more shallow and I became a little concerned. "Lay your head down and try to get some sleep." I said gently. She put her head in my lap and closed her tired eyes.
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The pleas of the dying individuals were becoming less and less. All of us just sat in the life boat, trying to comfort each other's grief. I sat, trying more than anything not to think of the events of the night. Somehow I had convinced myself that everything would be ok, and would go back to the way it was before. Deep down though, I knew that it never could.
Ruthie, by then, had stopped shivering. I looked down at her expecting her to be sleeping soundly in my lap. My heart stopped beating as I saw there was no little cloud of breath forming in front of her face. "Ruthie?" I asked, turning her over. She didn't stir at all. "Ruthie! Wake up!" I yelled, shaking her. Her head just lolled from side to side. My eyes became blurry as I screamed again, "Wake up Ruthie!" A peaceful expression was fixed on my sister's white face. "NO!" I screamed, "No! Ruthie don't do this to me! Don't leave me!" A lady next to me, touched my shoulder and said in a miserable voice, "There's nothing left you can do, she's gone." "NO SHE'S NOT!" I yelled even louder. Everyone in the boat was staring at me now but I didn't care. My sister wasn't dead. I shook her again, "RUTHIE!" my voice cracked and I was blinded by the salty tears that had flooded my cheeks. "SHE IS NOT DEAD! SHE WOULDN'T LEAVE ME!" I cried harder, rocking back and forth. "She's gone." whispered the lady next to me. I couldn't speak, I just sat there wailing, cradling my sister's frozen dead body.