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Message To Readers

Hello.

On Sunday 15th April 2012, we mark 100 years since Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic. Together, on BookRix, we will remember those who died. As you know, there have been several programmes on television about it, such as ITV 1's big drama Titanic

.

For Battle Of Words, I've decided to fantasize about an 11-year-old girl who travelled first class on the so-called unsinkable ship. She, along with her mother, Julia, shared their journey together. Now, she is sharing her journey with you.

I hope you enjoy her very moving story.

Bethan Rees

A Fresh Start

'Good morning, sweetheart.' Mother said with a wavery tone. Her eyes were all watery and her right cheek was red. It looked really sore, as if she'd been hit.
I sat up and noticed she was holding a sheet of paper - no, two.
'Good morning, Mother.' I said. 'Why are your eyes teary and your cheek red? Where's Father?'
'Well, unfortunately, Father's in his room. Last night, we had an argument. Father went out of control and hit me. So, what we're doing is going away.'
'Where? For how long?' I asked curiously.
'New York, forever.' Mother got the peices of paper. 'Mrs Rhone, our neighbor, saw what happened. After Father went up to his room, she came round and said about the Titanic, how it was going to New York, in America. She gave us tickets.'
I started to perk up. Mother passed the tickets to me. I glanced at the class and details. Suddenly, I was shocked at our class. It said: FIRST CLASS

. Mother winked and smiled.

After dinner, we started packing. Titanic was leaving the next morning, so we had to pack quickly. Mother packed her photo albums, some valuable jewellery, her perfumes, some books, lots of clothes and her rose quartz stone.
I packed my teddies, my jewellery, books, my photo albums, my own perfume that Mother didn't want and lots of clothes.

Father found us packing.
'Why are you packing, Julia?'
'Emily and I are moving away tomorrow.'
'Where?' Father got angry. He was now yelling. 'Where to?'
'New York, on Titanic.'
'TITANIC? Where did you get the tickets?'
'I'm not telling you.'
'We're going first class!' I cried.
Father shrieked and hit me. Mother hugged me - I was crying. She whispered in my ear.
'Everything's going to be okay.'

Titanic

Southampton was bustling the next day, with passengers and family or friends to wave passengers off on their journey. Mother and I saw the great Titanic while we were drove up in the cab. We were staring at it with our mouthes wide open.
'A great liner... apparently unsinkable.' The driver said.
The driver helped us with our luggage. He even gave Mother a kiss on the hand! Well, we were first class, you know!

When we were on the Titanic, we went to find our suite. The rooms were big and beautiful and there was a bedroom with two single beds, one for me and one for Mother. Mother excitedly bounced on her bed.
'I feel at home already!' she cried. Happily, we started unpacking. Our jewellery sparkled and perfume stood on our desks, our photo albums and books filled the shelves and our wadrobes were filled with our beautiful dresses and our life jackets. We felt at home.
'Is this your dream come true?' I asked.
'Yes. Living in first class. Of course. Especially with my special girl.' she replied.

Mother and I were dressed in our finest for dinner; me in my black dress with my black pumps and sapphire necklace and Mother in her burgundy dress, black heels and amber necklace with matching earrings. We ate our dinner, drank champaigne (well, me drinking water) and enjoyed a good conversation. The majority of it was about me. I quite like being the centre of attention, but I felt a bit embarrassed.

That night, Mother tucked me in and we talked for a while.
'Do you think this is our destiny, without Father?'
'I do. If we don't make it to New York, at least we've tried, honey. Okay?'
'Yes. I absolutely love it here, with the mini chandelier.'
'We feel like royalty here!' Mother cried. We giggled.
'I love you, Mother.'
'I love you too, Emily.' Mother whispered.
We then fell asleep. Titanic was heaven.
For now.

The Iceberg Hits

The next few days were heaven. We dined in style and lived in luxury. But, an iceberg was going to ruin our time together.

On the night when the iceberg hit, we were on the deck. A few other people were there too, and I'd made a friend - her name was Anna and she was 11 and with only her mother too! We were almost best friends. We were together on the night.
'Titanic is fantastic, isn't it, Anna?' Mother asked.
'I feel like a princess.' Anna replied.
Just then, I stared.
'Mother, look!' I cried. A large iceberg was on its way to us, right on course to hit us! We gasped. Mother immediately led us back to our rooms. We said goodbye to Anna and went into our room.
Mother put our perfumes into a box and stored them in a safe place so they wouldn't shatter. We decided to get a little bit of sleep before the iceberg hit.

A few minutes later, we heard a bang and a long scraping noise.
'Could that be the iceberg, Mother?'
'Yes, but I don't think it will do much harm.' Mother replied.
She was wrong.

About five minutes later, a maid came in, looking worried.
'Excuse me, the Captain is ordering both of you to get to the deck with your life jackets on, immediately, please. Thank you.' she said and then closed the door.
We panicked getting our coats and life jackets on. Mother put our jewellery into a little pouch which she carried on her neck like a shoulder bag. We then went to the deck.

Anna came and found us, too. She was crying because she was so scared. The four of us, holding hands, went up to the deck where the lifeboats were being loaded and set off.

'Man The Lifeboats!'

The Captain was worried. He knew that Titanic would sink, because the iceberg had scraped five compartments.
We were worried. We didn't know if we were going to live or die.

There was panic everywhere. One of the stewards cried 'Women and children only for lifeboats! Men, please stand back!' repetitive times. All of the men fought to get on a lifeboat.

As we hurried to each lifeboat, we were always too late. But, we were lucky for one. Unfortunately, it was at one of the highest points. We waited ages for this lifeboat to be filled.
'Do you think we're going to live?' I asked.
'Yes...' Mother was shivering.

When the lifeboats set off, ours was the last. We were relieved to be finally heading off. Suddenly, our lifeboat jolted, sending Mother flying into the sea, screaming.
'MOTHER!' I screamed, holding out my hand, but it was too late. She'd fallen in.
Even worse, the power went out inside the Titanic, so I couldn't see her.
'NO!' I screamed and started sobbing. My heart was broken. I didn't have a mother anymore. Mother was one of the only things I really, really loved, but I'd lost her.

'Oh my lord, Emily, I'm so sorry!' Anna's mother cried. 'When we get to New York, I'll adopt you.'
'Thank you.' I replied. Although it wouldn't feel the same without Mother, it would still be nice to live with Anna.

As the lifeboat sailed away from the Titanic, we watched as it slowly sank into the cold, dark ocean.

End Of Me

When we got to New York, my heart sank. A new life without Mother seemed awful. A new life with Anna seemed nice.

That night, I heard a crashing noise. A voice sounding familiar filled the house. The door creaked open. It was Mother's ghost! She was overjoyed to see me.
'Mother!' I whispered.
'Hello, Emily.' Mother whispered calmly. 'Heaven is a non-moving Titanic for me.'
'Wow!' I relaxed on my cushion. We had a whale of a time whispering about Heaven and how I'd been adopted by Anna's mother Sara. Mother went at midnight.

I was still grieving the next morning. I was very depressed. I only ate half of my breakfast, a quarter of lunch and only a mothful of tea. This happened for about a week.
Sara came in when I was getting ready for bed one night to see if I was alright.
What she didn't know was I was dying. Fast.
She got me a glass of water and prayed for me.
'Sara, do you think that I'll see Mother in Heaven?'
'Yes. It'll be like you're on Titanic again.' She said.
Anna came in to wish me goodbye. She started to cry. I tried to reassure her that everything would be alright, but she still wouldn't believe me. I reassured her that I'd be in a safe place with Mother. She held my hand.

As I stared at the moon, I blacked out.
This was the end.

Epilogue - Back On Titanic

I woke up in the bed I had on Titanic. I looked around me and I was in my and Mother's bedroom suite. Mother then came in and smiled.
'I told you so!' she cried.
I didn't know what she meant yet.
As Mother and I went through the whole area, I knew what she meant. All of the maids were there, smiling and waving at us.
'We're back, Emily.'
'Back where, Mother?'
'We're back on Titanic.'

Impressum

Widmung:
No real people are mentioned in this book. Dedicated to my great great grandfather who died on Titanic. His body still remains in the wrecks...

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