June 23, 2023 Lost at Sea

Rahima felt the people pressing against her. Her daughter held her hand tight, they sat crammed amongst the mass of women and children in the ship’s hull. There was no room to move and the smell overwhelmed her. It was all she could do to keep from letting everything in her guts seeth forth.

There was nothing in her stomach anyway. The last drink of water she saved for her daughter. The Pakistani woman wondered if there would be any water to drink before they reached Italy. Already six people had died. These were the worst moments of her life so far. 

Rahima wanted a better life for her daughter. So when they boarded the boat in Tobruk, Libya she was filled with hope.

And Fear.

She had to remain strong for Marina, her only child. At least the only child left alive. Disease and famine had taken her firstborn daughter, and her son died only weeks before the journey began. It was what convinced her to try this route to freedom.

The motion of the waves churned her stomach even more. It had been hours, maybe days since she had seen the sun. All the women and children were told to go below, it was safer there. Somehow she wasn’t sure it was safer. Her husband took her below the deck and helped her find a spot, he went back to the top of the ship. There were so many other women around her, and they kept coming. It was a press of human flesh and smells. Some people couldn’t control their bodies anymore and the stench increased as the hours wore on. 

Every time the waves pushed the vessel she thought it might keep going over. Still, she held onto herself and her child among the cries and the smells. Her husband told her they were headed for freedom. They would be in Italy in only a few days. There was hope for a better life. A life where, as a woman, she would have a chance to survive, maybe even thrive. 

Now she just wanted to see the sun again.

The ship rocked some more. Above the wails of the people, she heard Greek voices calling out. Another ship approached off the bow. She heard the men yelling, they were telling them the boat was in trouble, its engine stalled. The pull from the side knocked her to the floor. Someone fell on top of her. Where was her child? 

She reached into the darkness. And felt Marina’s hand in hers. It slipped from her grasp.

Her world turned upside down. 

Water, so much water. It flowed in from above. Screams filled the hold and everyone tried to reach for the ladder. But the ladder was going the wrong way. 

Where is Marina?

The salt water filled her eyes and she found herself floating to the bottom of the deck. Dark, so dark. She reached around and felt her daughter’s hand for a brief second.

Then it was gone.

Her mouth opened, expecting to swallow the sea and breath no more. Instead, she gulped in a pocket of air and felt herself rise among the floundering bodies. 

“Marina!”

She was in a pocket of air in the hull of the fishing boat. Many other women floated, their moans echoed in her head. Her own moans mingled to create a cacophony of misery. 

Rahima swam into the depths and looked for her little girl. There were so many bodies, she was lost, looking, searching. Her chest was on the edge of bursting and she swam back into the pocket of air. Faces flashed in front of her, then darkness, the world around her was black.

So dark.

Her senses reeled, and her body could feel everything with a raw intensity.  The press of human flesh held her in the pocket of air. She knew in moments that the ship was on the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. 

Hours passed and there was no sign of anything. Just the continued ache of her existence. Freedom would never be hers. It was only a matter of time. Some of the women gave up and dropped into the black waters. She couldn’t see them, she could only hear the muffled splash and then silence. 

Slowly, the moans disappeared. Her bowels were long empty, her heart a broken shell. She knew no one was coming to save her. She would lie in this pocket of air until the oxygen ran out. 

Rahima saw the glow in front of her. She was pulled toward it. It was a bright light so warm and welcoming. Her spirit rose and she was drawn forward. Away from all pain, all fear. She was going to God’s warm embrace. Her time, her lifeblood, slowly slipped away.

* * *

North Atlantic Ocean 640 kilometres from St. Johns Newfoundland, two days later.

Sam’s body vibrated. His hands were clammy and he could hardly keep his stomach from churning. His father asked him to join him on the adventure of a lifetime. At nineteen years old it was an experience never to forget. One he wasn’t certain he wanted.

They were going to ride in a submarine and visit the Titanic.

Father wanted to share an epic journey to the bottom of the sea. They were crammed tightly with three other men, in a submarine that looked like a space capsule. 

He glanced around the capsule, the CEO of the company that made the sub was sitting to his right. It must be safe.

He stared at his dad, his voice shook a little as he spoke, “This is pretty amazing, and terrifying.”

“I know, but we are with some of the most experienced submariners around. This will be something to tell your children about.” His father put an arm around him and the sub dropped beneath the waves of the Atlantic Ocean. 

The feeling of falling slowly gave him a tingle in his hands and his toes. The sub went through its safety checks and everything looked like it was fine. 

They continued their gentle descent to the bottom of the ocean. 

Sam thought about a story his cousin shared with him just before they boarded the sub. He glanced at his Dad and then stared at his hands, “Abduhla told me that a boat filled with hundreds of our Pakistani countrymen sank off the coast of Greece. Many of them are lost, missing, or dead.”

“That is tragic, such a waste.” His father shook his head.

“How desperate could someone be to risk their lives to flee to Europe? Why get on a boat that would be so dangerous?”

“They are very desperate indeed. My son you will never have to worry about any such thing.” Frowning, he glanced around the sub, then smiled, “Yet, here you are on a submarine voyage to the depths of the ocean!”

“Ya,” Sam shrugged then grinned, “An adventure of a lifetime!”

“We’re almost there,” The CEO announced. 

Sam rubbed his neck and craned his head forward to get a glimpse of the outside world around the sub. The light shone into nothingness. 

A creaking noise emanated around them. Sam stared at his dad about to ask what it was. There was no time for that.

The next sound rocked his body and filled his ears with a shockwave. His dad stared into his eyes and opened his mouth. 

Everything was gone. Chaos surrounded his senses all at once. For the briefest seconds, Sam felt the water press on him. Then nothing. 

A light beckoned him, a warm glow filled his soul. He rushed into God’s warm embrace. His time, his lifeblood gone in an instant.

* * *

On June 14, 2023, a fishing trawler filled with over 750 refugees fleeing poverty and oppression sank off the coast of Greece. The number of victims is unknown but in excess of six hundred, mostly women and children. 

On June 16, 2023, an experimental submersible disappeared in the North Atlantic Ocean. There were four extremely wealthy men on board as well as one of the men’s sons.  It filled the headlines while millions of dollars in resources were employed to rescue the missing men. When the search reached the disaster site it became apparent that the sub imploded within the first few hours of its descent to see the wreckage of the Titanic. All lives were lost.

It has become a sad testament to the state of our world today.

The fishing trawler carrying hundreds of desperate migrants.

The Titan sub and the men who were lost. 

R.I.P.