April15 1912 5:15 am

It wasnt a sound that had woken Helen , but the absence of it. Her brain felt hazy. Like a blanket of fog hugged her mind, shrouding her thoughts in a thick mist. Helen tried to pull herself together. The lack of sound was important. It meant something.
She was so cold... and so wet. Why was she in this fridged water? Helen slowly opened her eyes.
This one is alive! a strange voice said inwonder. A 'voice' Helen only heard in her head.
"Who said that?" Helen turned to find herself mostly out of the water, laying on an overturned bookshelf. Several green wild heads bubbled up from the depths.
So many have died here. A second voice said. We will not stay here, where death hangs in the water.
"Mermaids." Helen whispered reverently. "I thought you were exstinct."
We dont show ourselves to humans. But you seem diffrent. More understanding.
and you needed help The first voice added. We tried helping the others as well. But the water is too cold. and The boats are too far away.
Helen sat up carefully and looked out for the lifeboats. Most were off in the distance. One seemed to be going in circles; further from the others. Helen lay back down. It was no use. She had no way to to reach them. No way to shore. No reason to try.
"Thankyou for all you help."Helen told the small group of seafolk. "But it seems this is my fate."
Very well. We shall leave now. We will not return
"Im sorry to drive you from you home." Helen answered thickly as she started to lose consciousness.
"... If you dont shut that hole in your face, there will be one less person on this boat!"
"And it sure as Hell wont be me, you try anything Buster and Ill shove you off on an iceberg!"
Helen roused herself from the cold induced sleepstate and listened to the arguing pair
She recognized the voices, but couldnt quite place them. The faces were blurred and unfocused. She lay still in her makeshift boat. The skeletal remaints of a bookshelf. she didnt move even when the lifeboat bumped against her.
"God Almighty... Shes breathing!" Maggie reached out and plucked Helen out of the frozen water and deposited her into the boat. "Shes alive."
"Not for much longer." Hitches predicted darkly as Helen was wrapped up in several blankets.
"Get her some brandy. Come on, Sister. Open your eyes, stay with me. Theres a ship on the way. Just over to the left. we re going to make it."
Helen struggled into a sitting positionall around were Islands of light. 13 Lifeboats awaiting rescue. way off in the distance, towering high above them was unmistakably the Carpathia
"Alright Ladies. grab an oar and lets row!"Margaret Brown had taken charge of the small boat. Helen wasnt surprised.
Despite her prolonged exposure to the feezing water, Helen found she had enough stamina to help row the boat.
slowly, they mad thier way to the large ship as the sun rose to illuminate the devastating scene.
mountains of ice floated in the water close by. Closer still, were mounds of ice,; frozen bodies of men women and children. Lost,unlucky souls who didnt have a lifeboat or a prayer.
Helen kept her head down and rowed steadily. Maggie called out instrutions, keeping the others focussed. "Once we get abord the carpathia, we can rest." she encouraged the tired women to keep going. "Steer us straight Mr Hitchens."
"Never thought Id see the day I was taking orders from a woman" Hitchens muttered.
"If you dont you may not live long" Helen warned him tensly.
It was a long slow process and evv en the inexaughstable Magaret Brown seemed to seemed tired before the end. But finally they reached the large towering ship.
broad bold letters in white paint proclaimed the ship The Carpathia The were saved. Helen dropped her oar and collapsed. There was a lot of work yet to do, she was sure. But everything else could wait.
I hope to see you again someday Helen opened one bleary eye. Most of the women were too absorbed with the carpathia to notice the nearby mermaid. Helen nodded
I would like that as well. I run a sanctuary for those whom the humans do not acknowledge. She thought, knowing the mermaid would somehow hear her. She watched the wild green head disapear below the waves again.
"Alright Helen. Its your turn now." Maggies brisk voice brought Helen back to her surroundings. A swinglike contraption was lowered from the side of the ship Helen was placed on the platform and she was raised up to the deck where a dozen hands pulled her aboard, wrapping a blanket over her shoulders and placing a cup of hot sludge known as coffee.