First Place: Code of Honor by Amy Weaver
”The North-Atlantic Wind was frigid as it lashed Jeremy Walker’s hunched shoulders. He scanned the confused crowd that milled about the deck and squeezed Kelly’s cold hand.
“There,” his mother said suddenly. “There are the boats.”
Relief swept over Jeremy and he guided his mother and sister to where the lifeboats were being filled with distressed passengers. Looking out at the dark ocean, he wondered if he would reach New York safely.
Jeremy had spent all of his fifteen years in London. When the family made the decision to move to America, Jeremy’s father had gone ahead to New York to find housing. Jeremy remembered saying goodbye to his father on the harbor docks.
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Second Place: Manhood’s Hour by Kristin Caroline Ballance
His hands gripped the railing. Already numb, they scarcely felt its coldness as he watched the lifeboats row into the darkness. “Pull away from her, men,” he heard one of the rowers cry. “She’ll take us down with her!”
A shudder shook his body. A lady in a certain collapsible touched her hand to her lips and lifted it in farewell. His eye dropped to the girl in her lap. Her little hands also were waving. He wondered if she was still crying. Then, they faded away into the darkness, and he saw them no more.
Days ago when his family had boarded her, Peter had been awed by the Titanic’s size. As they set foot on the gangway, a well-dressed man escorting a lady brushed by, telling her in a confident tone that he had heard the Titanic was well nigh unsinkable. Father had looked troubled.
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Honorable Mention: The Men Who Were Left Behind by Abigail Weaver
The quiet air was crisp and cold; the night was clear and bright;
The water rippling ‘round the ship made quite a pretty sight.
Earth’s canopy was spangled with ten thousand twinkling eyes,
The shining stars looked down o’er all and blinked with mild surprise.
Could they but see the future—those pretty dancing things!—
I think they’d cease their dancing to make room for angels’ wings.
I think they’d start a’weeping in their pity and their fright,
“Dear God, have mercy on the souls of those who die tonight!
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