Date: Sunday, The Fourteenth day of April 1912
Place: Titanic – Family Cabin
Time: 23:44

“What do you mean, get your lifebelts on?” Momma asked.

“I was shoveling coal into the broiler when all of a sudden there was an enormous crash coming from the walls and water was coming out of it.,” Papa explained. “Or should I say coming in.” He grabbed the lifebelts and handed them all to us. “Here take one and put it on.”

“It can’t be that bad,” Momma tried to calm him. “Don’t they have a way to just close up the water until we make it to New York?”

“We can’t take any chances,” Papa said. “It’s best to just have a lifebelt on. It may get worse.”

He was taking off his work uniform and dressing in much dryer clothes. Me and Anneliese didn’t look his way, just in case he got naked. Which likely he did.

Momma steps to the window and looks out. “Well that explains why the ship has stopped.”

“Did we hit something?” I asked. “I did notice something huge out the window.”

Anneliese spoke up, “We may have hit a reef or giant under sea rocks.”

After Papa got dressed, he sat down on his bed and put his hand on his forehead. “It was a nightmare. First the boat starts shaking and then water and ice came out of the walls.”

“You didn’t mention ice,” Mom said.

“Ice?” I exclaimed. “We may have hit an iceberg.” I ran to the window and looked out again. From a distance I could see something gigantic in the water. It was hard to determine, but it may have been an iceberg.

“There,” I pointed.

Papa got up off his bed and looked out. “Are you sure it's an iceberg?”

“Not really,” I cry, “but Captain Smith was talking to me today about them.”

Anneliese and Momma went to the window and looked out.

“I can’t see anything,” Anneliese complained.

We should go outside and see it better,” I said hurrying to the door.

“Oh no, you don’t!,” Momma growled. It’s late and you two should be in bed.”

“But I’m not tired,” I complain.”

“Me too,” Anneliese whined.

“What if we are asleep and the ship starts to sink?” I asked.

“We haven't heard anything from anyone on the crew, besides you honey,” Momma sighed.

“Let them stay up,” Papa said sitting down on the bed once more. “Besides, if everything is normal, they’ll be asleep sooner or later.”

There was a knock on the door. Momma opened it. An older man was on the other side.

“Sorry tae disturb ye,” he said. “But did any o ye feel somethin aboot say fifteen minutes ago?”

“Yes we did,” Momma said. “Come on in.”

“Why, thank ye.” He slowly stepped into the room, using a cane.

As he walked in, he glanced over at both me and Anneliese.

“Why, hello thare young lassies,” he smiled. “Ma name is Herbert Spenser” he said after sitting in a chair. “A believe A'v distinguishit ye twa young tykes playin ootside.”

I sat down next to Anneliese. She and I just looked at each other. We didn’t understand what he was saying. His accent was strange.

“Mind gin A smoke?” Herbert asked. He pulled out a pipe.

Papa viewed the pipe and figured out what he was saying “No, It’s fine by me,” said Papa. “How about you honey? Gazing over at Momma.

“I’m not sure,” she protested. “What about the children?”

“It’s okay with me,” I said. “They smoked in the library and even while I played the piano.”

“I don’t mind.” Anneliese giggled.

Herbert took his pipe and filled it with some tobacco. I watched him. I never see many people smoke and it looked interesting. I always wondered why Papa never smoked. Grand-papa always did.

Anneliese sat on the ground and started playing with her Jacks. I glanced over and decided to play as well. I noticed that with the ship not moving, it was a lot easier to play the game.

“…Sae anyways, thare A wis sittin at the table playin checkers an aw o a sudden a huge spider walks on tae the board.” Herbert chuckled. “Now A knew it wis thare, but Fred didn’t know, an synse he wis playin as black an it wis his turn, he pickit up the spider an freakit oot.” Momma and Papa both laughed. “Yeah it wis hilarious.”

I heard him say the word spider and it gave me the shivers.

“Anyways, I’ve been wonderin. Why dae ye aw have lifebelts on?”

Papa explained the whole situation to him.

Sae that whit happened ,” Herbert puffed on his pipe. “We pure don’t hae tae worry, this ship wis capable fur hings lik' that tae happen. We’ll be back tae sailing again in a few hours, wance thay patch up th' nook.”

The continued having a conversation for a little while longer until Herbert excused himself.

“A here better head back tae ma room, ma leg is pickin up a storm a comin.”

Date: Monday, The Fifteenth day of April 1912
Place: Titanic – Family Cabin (Still)
Time: 24:09

“Everybody up, get dressed, get your lifebelts on at once!” I heard a man yell out in the hallway. It sounded like a crew member. “Everybody up, get dressed, get your lifebelts on at once!” He kept saying and banging on doors.
I started hearing people in the hallway right outside our cabin. They were complaining about the noise. Some were complaining about having to wear the lifebelts. Some were asking questions on why the ship had stopped. That was my question as well.

“There’s no need to worry, just put on the lifebelts and head up on the deck,” the crewman argued with them. “Chop, Chop!” He then started knocking on other doors, including ours.

Papa opened the door.

“Everybody up, get dressed, get your lifebelts on...” the man started saying when he noticed we all had ours on. “Come on then up to the deck.” He hurried off to the next door. “Everybody up, get dressed, get your lifebelts on at once!”

Momma insisted we all stay warm and put on most of our clothes underneath our new dress. It didn't work, it was hard to move in. We ended up putting on the dress, Captain Smith gave us, one extra dress and the sweater Momma made us.

Before we left, we all glanced back at what we had left in our rooms. If the ship was sinking, we wouldn’t see any of it anymore. I noticed my doll and freaked out. “Lucie!”

“Forget the doll!” Momma grumbled.

“But Momma, I can’t leave Lucie behind. I can’t sleep without her. And she was my first doll.”

“I can get you a new one,” Momma told me. I started to cry.

“Just let her have the doll,” Papa told Momma.

“Alright, you can have the doll,” Momma grumbled.

“If she can have her doll, I’m taking the color crayons and paper with our drawings.

Momma sighed.

As we all wandered out on the deck, many people were standing around. There was a roaring sound coming from the funnels above us. I had my hands to my ears. I could see Anneliese had hers to her ears as well. Momma and Papa were looking around. My hair kept getting in my face with the strong wind that was blowing. It was very chilly outside.

“Go back to your rooms and get dressed in warm clothes,” a crew member said. “Also bring out all your blankets you can find. And come back here.” We heard other crew members saying about the same thing elsewhere.

Momma was right. Dress warmly, but she wasn’t sure if bringing the ship's blankets was allowed. Now that we had the order, we went back inside our cabin and grabbed every blanket. Momma snuck a pillow bag full of most of our clothes. Anneliese grabbed her Jacks and I just kept holding onto Lucie.

Place: Titanic – Hallway
Time: 24:16

The hallway was crammed with passengers left and right scrambling to and from their cabins. We scooted along the edge of the walls trying to get out. We didn't even bother locking the door of our cabin.

With all the commotion, I dropped my doll. I stopped to grab it. This made me lose my family in the crowd. I started to panic. I couldn’t see them anywhere. I walked the best I could, getting bumped by passengers hurrying along.

“Momma! Papa!” I holler. It was no use, nobody could hear me in the loud hallway of people. I continued walking when a man came along and scooped me from the ground. I dropped my doll again.

I freaked out.

“Let me go!” I cried.

“Don’t worry, Anneliese,” said a familiar sound.

I stopped crying and gazed at the person carrying me.

“Peter?” I sputtered.

“It’s me,” he chuckled.

“Where have you been all this time?” I asked.

“I’ll explain later,” he said. “We have to get out of here.”

“No!” I cried. “I want my Momma and Papa and my...” Peter covered my mouth. I continued to cry as he headed the wrong way. I bit him. “Let me go! Let me go! I screamed. This caused everyone to look towards me and Peter. “Let me go!”

Peter was furious from me biting him, he slapped me in the face, which made me dry harder. He wasn’t paying attention to where he was running and hit an open door, which caused me to fall to the floor.

Peter fell to the floor. He looked like he was asleep. I darted off the way we came.

I didn’t even look back to see if he was awake and coming after me. I was so scared that he was chasing me, that I almost slipped and fell. I notice I wasn’t far from our cabin and run to it. I make it back to the cabin and close the door locking it.

Huffing and puffing, I lie on the floor sobbing.

~o~O~o~

Momma, Papa and Anneliese finally make it out on the deck. The crew were getting some of the lifeboats ready.

“That’s strange,” Momma said.

Anneliese spotted a boy holding up a doll to his mother. “Mommy, Mommy, look what I found,” the boy said.

“Momma,” Anneliese said tugging on her blanket. “Isn’t that Josephine’s doll?”

“It sure looks like the same kind of doll,” Momma said, glancing back to where I was supposed to be. Not seeing that I wasn’t around. “Josephine?”

Papa, alert on what was happening, ran over to the boy and his mother. “Excuse me, where did you find that doll?”

The little boy hugged his mother. “I found it on the floor in the hallway,” he whined.

Papa started running into the hallway. There were so many passengers roaming the hall he couldn’t see anything. He kept running. Searching on every end of the hallway.

Eventually he made it to our cabin,
and tried the door. It was locked. Thinking I wouldn’t be able to get in with a locked door, he hurried down the hall some more. Eventually he came up to a man, which was Peter lying on the ground.

“Damn drunk!” he snarled and continued searching down another hallway.

~o~O~o~

Back in the room, I was sitting on the floor next to the door. I heard someone try to open the door. I freaked out and ran to my bed. I was crying. “I want my Momma and Papa!”

I was about to head back out but decided not to. Peter could be out there waiting for me to open the door, so he could snatch me again. I decided to lie on my bed.

A few minutes later I heard the door again and this time someone was pounding on it. I look up and stare at the door. Tears were flowing down my face with horror. The pounding continued and got louder. My heart was beating a mile a minute. I wonder how many people were in the hallway watching at a strange man beating at a door.

All of a sudden the pounding stopped, and the door of the cabin opened up. I was hiding and crying when a hand came up to me and touched me.

“Josephine?” said a voice.

I looked up.

“Papa!” I cried jumping into his arms. “I was so scared. I saw Peter and…”

“Yes, I know,” Papa hushed me.

“How?” I asked.

Papa hugged me. “He’s out cold in the hallway.” Papa takes the blanket I was wearing and put it on me. We stepped out of the room. He continued to hold me. I look down and see Peter on the floor. He looked like he was sleeping, just like before.

We walk down the semi crowded hallway and out to the deck where Momma and Anneliese were.

“Josephine!” Momma cried.

“Momma!” I held my arms out for her to grab me.

“Here’s you doll,” Anneliese held Lucie in her hands.

“Thank you,” I sniffle.

Place: Titanic – Boat Deck
Time: 24:31

I could hear music playing and it was lovely. I wasn’t quite sure what they were playing, but it made being out in the cold a lot easier. I notice the crew moving around the deck. One man was ordering them what to do.

“Women and Children First!” He would say.

This caused an uproar as men felt they were being discriminated.

“What do they mean women and children first?” I asked Papa.

He didn’t answer, he was more watching the crowd.

I gaze over at Anneliese. She was sitting on the ground trying to stay warm. I walk over and sit down next to her.

“I believe you may need some company?”

“Thank you,” Anneliese hugged me. “I am scared.”

“I am too,” I hug her back.

At the corner of my eye, I notice a sinister looking man walking onto the deck.

“Cover your face!” I tell Anneliese as I do myself. We cover with our blankets.

“What’s wrong?” she asks doing what she was told.

“Peter is out there, and he is looking for me.” I explain. “You look like me, and so he may think you are me.”

“Peter?” Anneliese asked. “You mean Francis the murderer? The guy that you were hanging out with?”

“Yes,” I whine.

We both start crying.

I could hear Peter tramping up to us and stop. He was breathing heavily. Most likely looking at the blankets we were hiding in. After about a minute, he left. His breathing gave me goose pimples and chills up my spine.

We didn’t dare leave the blankets. We were both shivering, not from being frozen, but from the fear we had.

Momma came up to use and chuckled. “Why are you two both bundled up like that,” she asked. Are you two freezing?

“No, we were hiding.” Anneliese told her.

“Hiding?” Momma questioned. “Hiding from what?”

Never mind,” I said.

Once we got out from hiding, we both stood nearby Papa.

Time: 24:40

Patty Cake, Patty Cake, Baker's Man;
That I will Master, As fast as I can;
Pat it and prick it, And mark it you see;
And there will be enough for you and me.

We played while everybody stood around. It was getting boring and there was nothing else to do. Anneliese wanted to play Jacks, but she was worried she might lose the ball. She also thought we could color, but that also came up with the same thing.

Ring-a-ring o' roses,
A pocket full of posies,
A-tishoo! A-tishoo!
We all fall down.

It would be funner to play if we had more than two people playing, but we were starting to feel a little warmer and happier while we waited for what ever we were out here for.

We continued to play while passengers watched. Papa and Momma clapped along while we played. It was entertaining for all.

Eventually a few other kids joined the fun, and we all were laughing.

Ring-a-ring o' roses,
A pocket full of posies,
A-tishoo! A-tishoo!
We all fall down.

We all laughed when fell to the ground.

Afterwards, we all played a game called Anka Anka Grå Anka. A Swedish game where we all sit in a circle and one person goes around tapping on each person head, saying Anka to each person until they choose to say Grå Anka, and that person that gets chosen must run around the circle and try to chase them before they make it back to where the chosen person was sitting.

I lost a few times, but eventually won. We were about to play another game, until Anneliese spotted something out at sea.

“Look!” she said, pointing to a light in the distance.

“What is it?” I asked squinting at what she was trying to see.

Right about that time we heard, and then saw a rocket shoot up in the sky. It was very bright. It made me and Anneliese very happy to see it.

“Pretty,” I sang.

We all kept looking up, hoping for more, but were disappointed.

I walked over to Papa, who was staring out to sea. “Why did they shoot off just one?” I asked him. He shrugged and continued staring out.

I do the same thing.

~o~O~o~

Anneliese and I continued playing hand games while Momma and Papa were talking to someone.

“Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack
All dressed in black, black, black
With silver buttons, buttons, buttons
Up and down her back back back...”

I was stating to get cold and put on my blanket again. Anneliese followed. Fun and games were over.

Time: 1:08

As we sat there, we watched the rocket go off again. I wished it would be more.

We heard a man yelling. We were told to head over to one of the lifeboats. Momma, Papa, Anneliese and I started over to one. There were many women standing around with some men as well. I didn’t see many kids. A girl was standing with her mother, holding her hand. I decided to hold Papa's hand, even if it made me look like a baby.

I noticed that the music playing stopped for some reason. It became very quiet. All I could hear were the passengers talking and crew members telling everyone what to do.

I watched passengers climb into a lifeboat. I watched a crew member put in two young boys in one.

“That's all for this boat!” he said “Lower away!"

"Please!” I woman cried. “Those are my children! Let me go with them!"

“Alright,” the man said, “but she must leave.” He pointed to a girl in the boat.”

The girl steps out of the boat.

"Ruth! Get in another boat!" the woman screamed, once she got in the lifeboat, taking her place.

“Don't worry, kid, there's a boat over here for you.” the crew member told her.

We followed her and the man.

A lone woman keeping her distance from everyone was brought over to the boat. She became hysterical once she got closer.

"Don't put me in that boat! I don't want to go in that boat! I've never been in an open boat in my life!"

Officer Murdoch, tried to stop her fussing. "You have got to go and you may as well keep quiet. "

She eventually was put in the boat and Ruth was put in after her. Eventually it was our turn to get in the boat. Officer Murdoch helped me and Anneliese in and then Momma went in after us.

“Come on Papa,” I yelled.

Papa was just about to go on when Murdoch stopped him.

“I'm sorry, sir,” Murdoch said, “Only women and children allowed at this time.”

“Papa?” I started to cry.

“Can I say something to my children first?” Papa asked.

“Yes, of course,” Murdoch approved.

“Josephine, Anneliese,” he began. “You be good little girls and look after your mother.”

“Okay Papa,” Anneliese and I both said at once.

“I’ll...” Papa stuttered. “I’ll be on the next boat.” then he glanced over at Momma. “I love you honey.”

The boat was pretty much full by the time we were about to be lowered.

We both looked up at Papa with tears in our eyes.

"Bye Papa, " we both cried

"It's not goodbye," Papa told us, "It's see you later."

“Lower away,” Murdoch commanded.