The Tip Of The Iceberg

Violent shaking awoke me from my slumber. I was surprised (yet relieved) to sit up and find it was not the same case for siblings. I silently climbed down from the top and check on them. All three slept soundly.

How odd. Perhaps I had merely imagined it. After all, I was on one of the sturdiest ships ever built - in my own country, no less - and I was feeling it shake. Perhaps I did have an over-imagination, especially for a fifteen year old. I blamed my much younger siblings for my youthfulness.

Yet they lay, in undisturbed slumber. Fraternal twins sleeping side by side in the bunk, emaciated enough to share the single bed, small as it was. My brothers lay quite near each other, light and dark curls touching.

The youngest member of our family lay in an improvised cradle, her golden curls lying loose.

My parents had yet to return from their night out with their friends. Every night, it seemed the party in the Third Class cabin got more popular, louder and made it harder to sleep.

Perhaps that's what had me awakened.

No. It had truly felt like some sort of jittering.

"It's just your imagination, Shannon," I muttered to myself. At that moment there was a light tapping at the door, I slowly rose and went to answer it.

"Shannon! Did you hear? No you've been here all evening! I guess you haven't heard..." Alan spoke in urgent whispers, trailing off at the end. Alan was a First Class passenger, much better off than I was. His father had received a new job post in Long Island, and so they had boarded this ship to get to New York.

My family and I had boarded the ship for the same reason every Third Class passenger had - to have a better life in America. We didn't know what would be in store once we had reached our destination. And although they never explicitly said so, I was fairly sure they would want me married off as soon as possible, for a dowry. That’s why they didn’t know of my friendship with Alan, nor did his parents know of his friendship with me; a lowly Third Class passenger....

“Shannon! Did you hear me?” Alan was being extremely impatient, but he with held from shouting when he had seen my siblings’ still forms. Something was certainly wrong...

“What’s wrong Alan? Just say it outright? Please?”

His reaction was not one I had expected. He deliberated for half a second, before gently cupping my face in his warm, large hands. My confusion evaporated when he pressed his lips to mine.

I must say I enjoyed it.

He broke apart quickly, and he kept my eye contact as he spoke, “I needed to do that... in case I didn’t have another chance.”

I was puzzled again. “What do you mean Alan?” My feet suddenly felt oddly cold. How strange. But I couldn’t break his gaze to see why.

He groaned in frustration. “You really are miles away from civilisation, confined to this room all evening. Can you not even feel the hypothermic water swimming around your feet Shannon?”

I felt a cold chill down my spine as his thoughts sank in; though the cold chill was nothing in comparison with the freezing water.

I froze. “But... this is the unsinkable ship. This can’t be happening... she has amazing technological advances beyond any cruise liner before us...” I let the words trail off.

Alan stroked my face gently with his long, slender fingers. “My parents refuse to believe this ship is sinking. For numerous reasons, more ridiculous and shallow than those you just mentioned. They don’t know where I’ve gone. Shannon, I couldn’t deal with not knowing where you were. I needed to see if you were safe. We have to go now. Wake up your siblings."

I nodded, and after realising I was still in my pyjamas, quickly changed into my best dress and threw on a coat. Alan had his hands placed over his eyes to give me privacy.

Despite the situation we were in, I chuckled, "You can look.".

I felt a pang of shock when I noticed that the water was now swimming halfway up my calf.

We were going to have to get out of here, fast. I felt guilty waking my brothers from their deep sleep.

"Is it morning already?" Cathal asked, as he slowly sat up and rubbed his hazel eyes, his black curls bouncing. Fionn sat up slower than Cathal had. As they both processed what was going on, I snatched Tara from her cradle and quickly got some clothes in a bag for the four of us. Alan tapped his foot impatiently. As well one could do when one's foot was submerged in water.

Fionn looked around startled, and the questions came flying, "Why did you wake us?"

"Who's that fellow?" Cathal contributed, pointing toward Alan.

"Where's Mother and Father?"

"Why's it so wet?"

"Why have you taken Tara out of bed?"

"Did I wet the bed again?" Cathal asked, blushing.

I explained quickly and hastily. "Alan's my friend, he came here to tell us we have to get out of here quickly! So put you coats on immediately!" I threw their coats and shoes in front of them and they put all the articles of clothing on faster than I imagined they would. I hoped they wouldn't get too wet. The water was not far off from reaching my knees, and they were considerably shorter.

As if he was reading my mind, Alan lifted Cathal onto his shoulders and held Fionn in his arms. I silently prayed he would take Cathal into consideration when going through doorways.

I didn't understand. How could I be so calm in the face of the horror that Alan had described?

Simply this - I trusted him. With him with me, I felt everything was all right...

We quickly rushed from the cabin to the corridor, which was unusually quite. The water made things more difficult, the stairs up from Third Class cabins, in particular.

The deck was pandemonium. I assumed Alan would leave us to find his parents.

I was wrong. He guided us to the nearest life boat. Surprisingly, there were fairly few occupants. The boys seemed to notice this also.

"Why are we getting in this? No one else is." Cathal asked, frowning.

"Because they believe this ship is safer than the lifeboats." Alan replied, the disgust poorly hidden in his voice. He held my hand as I clambered into the boat, and than passed me two boys before climbing in himself. A realisation struck.

"What about our parents?" I asked as a few more people climbed into the boat.

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Alan replied, his voice soothing.

"I hope you're right," I mumbled as the life boat was lowered into the water. I cradled my baby sister protectively as there was a light bump as we hit the water. Cathal leaned against me, and I put my arm around both him and Fionn.

"We'll be okay," I muttered, to myself more than anyone. The life boat seemed to drift aimlessly and the ship remained perfectly stationary. I wondered if I had made the wrong decision...

...despite the situation, I managed to fall asleep; leaning against Alan's shoulder none the less. As I lifted my head up, Alan met my gaze and said simply, "I'd suggest not looking."

My curiosity got the better of me. I looked around to see the Unsinkable ship, but couldn't get a glimpse.

"How far have we drifted from the ship?" I asked, concerned.

Alan grimaced as he answered, "We've hardly even moved."

I looked at him in confusion, "So where is it?"

He looked at me in disbelief, as if I was missing the obvious. Then it sank in. "The ship, it's... gone under?" He nodded. "What happened to the other passengers?" His face fell and he looked down.

Than I remember the first thing he had said to me when I woke up, "I'd suggest not looking."

And I regretted it when I did. The bodies were frozen in the water, their life jackets keeping them afloat. Men, women and children. Dead and abandoned. I sobbed into Alan's chest as he reassuringly patted my back.

A ship eventually came and found us.

I had felt a little bit of hope; I hadn't seen my parents in the water. I searched the entire ship for them until it docked. Alan did the same.

Once docked, we waited at the port in vain, everyday, for a month. And after that on April 15th every year.