the Voyage to America

Times are hard all over in Europe or so they say, but I have no experience in other countries’ affairs. I reside, well used to reside in my native country Italy. It is a beautiful country filled with hopes and dreams, no one was dreaming as much as those that were to voyage to the new land, the land of America. Italy had been full of mystery to me but after the years it was still the same old Italy and nothing about it sparked my sense of adventure. I often found myself bored at home, with my head upon my hand, staring out the window at the sprawling city below. It wasn’t until I heard about the mass migration from all countries to America when I snapped out of my sullen state. It was then that I worked as hard as I could. It was Slaving, back breaking, and tireless work, but I managed to scrape together enough money to book me passage on the grand passenger ship Titanic. It was the last time I would see my beloved Italy. I loved it dearly but I just had to go. The enchanting cities I leave behind me now, are vague reminders of the life I will forget in the hopes of a new life filled with adventures and mystery, I am going to America.
I came with only one friend. Her name was Adrianna-Amaranta Amedia, but I call her AdriEm. She was as nervous as I was. “I don’t know about this Isa. I mean, I have heard about this. They say it is a terrible thing, the steerage. I don’t want to go.”
“Where is your sense of Adventure AdriEm?  Just because you won’t be a pampered house pet doesn’t mean that you can’t live the life that you always dreamed about living, in the land of opportunity, overflowing with milk, gold, and honey. it’s the land of endless fields of wheat and jobs a’ plentiful.  No one need hunger or suffering and we will be on the biggest ship I know of. The RMS Titanic is a beautiful ship and it has lots of room. I know it won’t be that bad, just trust me.” I replied. That seemed to have convinced her and so we boarded the large, gleaming ship. We were all buffed and rioted into our quarters. There were two other people in the compartment when we got there, an elderly couple that seemed to not even notice that we existed. I nabbed the top bunk before AdriEm had even a chance of making it, seeing as I have longer legs, and threw my bag up into my bunk. I used my arms and lifted myself up and relaxed. This was the most comfortable bed poor little me had slept on. This was going to be good. AdriEm scowled disdainfully at the sheets and muttered something disapprovingly to her self as she sat upon the bed. I looked at the door as three more scraggly looking gentile men stumbled through the door weighed down by four or five suit cases a’ piece. They each found a bed and settled down looking weary. The door that had just recently been shut was thrust open with a deafening BANG and a frumpy looking midget looked in. he was hunched over by the weight of two score luggage cases. He crept in and following him was a lady dressed in a pink satin dress that swept gracefully down to her ankles. Her shoes were white as snow with shiny silver buckles and the hems of her skirts were trimmed with lace. She looked around and sneered. She flicked her cigarette ashes on the floor and walked over to me. “That’s my bed. I will ask you nicely to please move only once.” A small superior smile flickered crossed her face as she said this.
“Not in this life time or the next lady, it is a first come first serve kind of deal here. I came first, I called dibs.” I was glad to see her smug little smile fade into a grimace as I defied her. She walked off with a little huff and sat on another bunk. Now all of the bunks were full but we had two more stragglers come in and gratefully sleep on the floor. The Titanic blew a loud whistle and we were off, making our way to America. I sat down on the floor and pulled out my only deck of cards. AdriEm and I played rummy, poker, and euchre. I was glad to have been in the room only with the three scruffy men who where passed out on their beds so they wouldn’t bother us in the middle of the game. The older couple was out in the hall discussing their futures and the stragglers were out on the town doing who-knows-what. Much to my relief, that snobby rich lady was out, with her little slave, on the deck of the ship mingling with first class. I figured that she was a penny pincher because, she was certainly rich enough to board passage on the first class.  We were each given a mess plate, spoon and knife and a cup. The water had a putrid odor and it had a slight green tint. It tasted of oil and we only drank it at meal times. The bathrooms, of which there were three, had lines sometimes of twenty or thirty people. The floors all had a coating of sand and dust and the decks outside were a mess. The rooms were small and crowded with at least ten people in them and meals were not very often. I wanted to laugh at how miss prissy got along but in truth, AdriEm wasn’t doing so well either. She was often sea sick and came down with a terrible fever. She lay in bed mostly moaning but she sometimes hallucinated about her parents she left back in Italy. I would sit up late at night sometimes with her head in my lap, mopping her forehead with a damp cloth, and sing to her an Italian lullaby called Cincirinella.


Cincirinella l'aveva una mula
tutto lo giorno la dava a vettura,
le metteva la briglia e la sella,
trotta, trotta, Cincirinella.

Cincirinella sul monte e sul piano
mai non cascava ed andava lontano.
Se di scudi portava un bel sacco,
trotta, trotta, non era mai stracco!

Cincirinella correva, correva,
cento chilometri al giorno faceva
e di notte seguiva una stella,
trotta, trotta, Cincirinella!

Cincirinella andava di fretta
e se ne stava seduto a cassetta,
non temeva ne pioggia ne vento,
trotta, trotta, cantava contento!

Cincirinella l'aveva una mula
tutto lo giorno la dava a vettura,
le metteva la briglia e la sella,
trotta, trotta, Cincirinella.

            (Cincirenella, his mule he would hire
Hitched to his wagon she never would tire;
When she was harnessed with saddle and bridle,
Trit-trot, trit-trot, they never went idle.
Over the plains, the mountains and hills,
He never fell off, he suffered no ills.
Whenever his sack was brimful of gold,
Trit-trot, trit-trot, he never felt old.
So Cincirenella went speeding away,
Hundreds of miles hewould ride every day;
When the night fell he would follow his star,
Trit-trot, trit-trot, he traveled afar.

As Cincirenella went tearing along,
Atop of his box he'd be singing a song,
Blithely he'd brave both the wind and the rain,
Trit-trot, trit-trot, he'd sing his refrain!

Cincirenella, his mule he would hire,
Hitched to his wagon she never would tire;
Once she was harnessed with saddle and bridle,
Trit-trot, trit-trot, they never went idle.)



I sang this to her and she would stop mumbling to herself and fall asleep. She would smile in her sleep. This was the fourth day. It was just now 7:00pm and I would frequently check my watch. I climbed out from her bed and I clambered onto mine, and in a dazed silence, fell into unconsciousness.
I felt the bed rock and I was jarred so violently that I fell onto the floor. I rushed over to AdriEm and held her still, sliding along the floor with the beds, making sure she didn’t fall on the floor. Everyone woke up and looked at me as if to say “what is going on?” All I could do was look back and grimace. Miss. Priss looked at me as if saying that it was all my fault and I glared at her. Why point fingers at me when even I had no idea what was going on? I looked over at AdriEm and saw she was awake now and her blue eyes were filled with wonder. I saw my reflection in her eyes as well and I saw I was just as startled as she. The ship shuddered to a stop and I let out a sigh. Everything would be alright. I was wrong of course, as I usually am, and I saw an unwelcomed sight. Water started pooling out from behind the door. I looked at everyone, they were all dumb struck. I guess I was the only one who kept my cool. I pulled AdriEm’s arm over my shoulder and hoisted her onto my back. She put her arm around my neck almost in a strangle hold and didn’t let go. “Come on you lot, lets go or we are all going to die!” I wrenched open the door and the ice water soaked my socks. I was glad I had worn “boy clothes” because a dress would just get in the way. We all stumbled through the hallway to get up to the first class deck, and the life boats. There was a whole bunch of screaming, especially from Miss. Priss. She shrieked and hollered and carried on as if the world was going to end. I hate rich people, do you know why? It’s because they can’t accept that their perfect little world is crashing down on their heads. Coming from a poor family I could cope with the fact that I might lose my luggage, my sanity, and my life. The midget was up to his knees in water now and laden with luggage, so many suit cases and things, that he could barely stand. The water burst in with a great jet of spraying water. The poor midget fell over and got swept away by the current. Miss. Priss started screaming and tried to swim back to grab the floating luggage. I grabbed her arm and shouted over the noise, “they’re lost to you now, and keep moving or your life will be lost too.”
         She looked at me with hatred but realized that I was right. She begrudgingly followed me and my gang of misfits.  We headed up to D deck and immediately found ourselves blocked by a gate. A bunch of screaming and yelling took place and I wanted to scream too, the crew was purposefully locking us in the steadily sinking ship. Babies screamed and women wailed and me were either shouting obscene cuss words or huddled in a group contemplating the most effective way to get out of this mess. I came up to the gate. “sir please let us out of here. The water is rising and it is getting cold down here. Children are down here sir, you don’t want them to freeze to death down here? Please sir, let us have a chance to live.” I cried a little and I think I got to him because he dropped the keys to where I could reach them and scampered off. I fumbled with the keys a little and a strong hand helped guide me to the key hole.