Taking the Plunge Together

Dying would not be in vain if we found a purpose in the face of death as we do in the realm of life. We all awaited the same fate anyways before stepping onto this boat. One by one we would die never knowing when the exact day would come. The Grim Reaper held open our coffin door to us regardless of our status. Perhaps the rich thought they could live forever, which is why they were sent into such a frenzy when the announcement was made. Expressions on the faces of everyone around me varied: disbelief, horror, shock... Alas, there were few appearances conveying acceptance. Greener pastures were promised to us on the other side of this voyage, but we would never know them to be true. These boasts about the great unsinkable ship were hearsay as well. We had all chosen to believe at the purchase of our tickets.

Even though we were on a sinking ship, coincidentally, I was in the right place at the right time when the announcement had been made to first class passengers. I should not have been there. The boat's crew was in too much of a panic to realize what passengers should be in their designated areas. Poor people, like me, were to be the last ones to know everything. Forgetting my previous mission entirely, I had turned around to head back to third class quarters to warn others. I was always doing what I was told I should not be doing as a woman. Learning to read and write, wanting to work and being unmarried was pure blasphemy. Those things seemed trivial now.

My thoughts raced back to how before setting off I was stuck in my life after doing much of what I set out to do and was wanting more. This journey was to lead to greater opportunities. I still had wanted what most women my age were seeking, a husband and good father figure to children I thought I would have one day. However, there was no time to waste worrying about what could have been. I had a new mission to complete. Yelling the news as I walked at a fast pace through the corridors between the third class quarters, people were awaking in terror and popping their heads outside their doors. One head in particular caught my eye. He looked to be about my age and was disheveled but had a kind face. Him and other male heads popped out of this living quarter, so I believed him to be an unmarried man.

I asked him, "Do you want to spend the rest of your life with me?"

Laughter erupted from other men around him as I asked this in a matter-of-fact way. What I was doing was unheard of, but then again so was an 'unsinkable' ship sinking. I looked to the ground and began to walk forward without expecting an answer.

Suddenly, the man I asked held up his hand to silence the others, "Quiet."

They all disappeared back inside their quarters, but I waited. The man reappeared and was dressed in his best suit. I felt my face flush as he looked at my face mouth agape.

"Marry me?"

He got down on one knee while taking a ring box out of his pocket to open.

"Yes!"

I felt butterflies arise from the pit of my stomach.

"I have to make one stop before we head up to the deck," I said looking to my outfit.

I pulled him into the public bathroom used by third class passengers.

"Help me gather toilet paper."

He looked at me confusedly but then did as I asked.

"You can wrap me as I spin. It will be my wedding dress."

We laughed together as he took to this feat. I looked utterly ridiculous leaving the bathroom, but we smiled and joked the whole way to the deck. We were in our own little world. Atop the deck, we found a priest to marry us. It was a simple exchange of words that didn't legally bind us since we had no documentation, but it held a significance for each of us. Our marriage feast began as we sauntered into the dining area deemed for first class passengers. Nobody, other than wait staff, dared to speak to us. My toilet paper dress was too lowly for their expensive taste. My husband and I enjoyed our first and last meal with champagne, lobster, and a plethora of divine food we could otherwise not afford outside of this situation.

We drunkenly danced to the music that continued to play and felt the ship slip away beneath us as the hours passed. The tilt occurred ever so slightly. My husband kissed me the way I always desired. Although, my toilet paper dress was not holding up. He took me by the hand, leading me out of the dining room and onto the deck again. The cold was biting at us but the heat in our bodies from the champagne bubbles kept it at bay. We wandered until we found a secluded area. Looking around one last time, we realized we were entirely alone. Away from the chaos, we grabbed each other and began kissing intensely. He pulled the remaining bits of toilet paper from my best dress underneath. Its' color was navy, but outside it looked purely black. I suppose this signified the mourning that was to come.

While death was so close, I felt new life in this moment. We began to undress each other and bared ourselves to each other and the elements. As mere strangers hours ago, we took this bleak moment and turned it into something special. We would be forever frozen in time. There was no future for us beyond this ship. We were as stuck here as the ship was stuck on the iceberg. Knowing we were third class passengers, we knew there was little chance of us being rescued. They were shouting for women and children to pile into the lifeboats. I would not leave him ever. We held onto each other for some time until the cold got to us. Starting to dress, we kept our eyes on one another.

A sudden jolt in the ship's position caught me off balance as he grabbed onto me once more. It was time. The tilt was becoming more severe as the bow dove deeper into the water. We sat on our bottoms, ready for whatever was to come, and he squeezed my hand. I squeezed his back. We had one last look at each other before we closed our eyes and began to move towards death. I am not sure what he was thinking as we didn't speak, but I thought of us as a family on winter day. Instead of taking this plunge into the water, we were sledding down a hill with our children. Soon we would go inside for hot cocoa. This vision was taken away along with all my memories. Love was lost. Cold and darkness was left with me.