53 / 164
53
The Unsinkable
Hat
and the house and the car. She nodded and smiled up at her father.
‘Well, darling, that can all be yours but I must go and work first.
It will only be for a little while.’ The father folded the cardboard
holder which held his ticket, reached up for his straw hat and tucked
the card into the band so that the ship’s name showed and he placed
the hat atop Mary’s head. It was much too big and fell down over her
eyes. She giggled and readjusted the hat, tugging down with both
hands as she stared up at her dad. ‘Keep it safe for me,’ her father
said, beaming down at his daughter. ‘Now you’re going to let me go,
alright?’ he asked.
A cheeky grin spread across Mary’s face, ‘Well…’
Her father reached out and grabbed Mary around the waist,
lifting her up above his shoulders. He shook her playfully and Mary
let out squeals of delights, frantically trying to hold down her hat.
‘Alright?’ he repeated.
‘Alight, alright!’ she managed between giggles. Her father,
satisfied, placed her down on the floor next to her mother. Mary
pushed her hat down at the back again to look up at her parents’ last
embrace. She noticed her mother was sobbing but her father was
stroking her back and whispering something quietly into her ear
which seemed to calm her.
The hollow drone of the ship’s horn sounded behind the family,
triggering an escalation in tempo and activity in the crowd. Mary’s
parents separated as her father quickly picked up his luggage. Her
mother leaned down again and scooped Mary up, holding her with
one arm while she wiped her tears away with the other.
Her father gave a final nod before jogging towards the planks. He
presented his ticket and proceeded to climb up before disappearing
into the ship’s door. Mary could no longer see the ship with the mass
of people in front of her and asked her mother to put her down. She
held down her hat with one hand and clung onto her mother’s hand
with the other, skilfully weaving and guiding their way through the
thick crowd. She passed many different people of all ages and riches
but everyone shared the same look of awe and jealousy on their
faces.
The dense smell of the salt water became stronger as Mary
squeezed through two men and came to the dock’s end. There was a
low metal railing separating her from the five metre drop to the
ocean and the splashing water seemed to roar in her ears. Mary let go
10