The Blackout

            I woke up one night startled at the sound of crashing; I had rushed to the deck to find the side of the ship splintered by a large iceberg, at first it seemed like no damage at all, but then I looked down to the side and a hole was quit prevalent even at this late hour. Once everyone else had heard the noise they too ran up the to see the uproar. It was now clear we had to leave the ship; I ran back under the deck to find the whole floor flooded with water, I thought to myself “we are doomed”. I ran up and they had already started deploying the boats. I jumped on one holding this journal tight, it was the only friend I had.

            It was about ten of us blindly rowing forward, I felt like a horse blindly following the rider’s orders. We had absolutely no idea where we were going; we just followed DeLong’s boat for hours on end. Now that we were exposed to the cold air of the night my skin felt like it was going to rip off any second. Thank god for my trench coat my skin was not in direct contact with the air. Now that we were stranded on this cramped boat we only had an insufficient amount of food for even three days. We had one loaf of bread and a moldy cracker for each individual on the boat.

            We continued heading north for eight days and nine nights. The ocean had become increasingly reckless, and there was still no sight of landmass. It was seemingly becoming a hopeless situation and I felt no need to entertain the fact that there was any chance of me living through this mess. Sudden overflow of water in the boat caused us to collapse into the water. All I saw was my journal sink to the bottom, I swam down to catch it then felt an immensely painful pound on my head that seemed to be from an ore that fell from the ship. After this everything was a haze…

January 16th 1880 – A Year of Pain

We’ve been sailing north for days on end, with no food and minimal drinks. The ignorant few have resorted to alcohol not realizing that is known to dehydrate instead of hydrate the consumer. The conditions are getting worse, with the weather dropping to about -20 ° Celsius. No one was expecting such extreme temperatures seeing as the only attire I had on me other then my undergarments, shirt and pants was a trench coat suitable for temperatures of 20° minimum. People are becoming senile due to the cold weather, yet they are all in their twenties.

Our captain George DeLong told us that we would reach landmass by about sixty days at the most; it’s been exactly a year. We started our journey in the humble state of Massachusetts with our hopes set high. We were told that if we were successful in our journey we would be a partly responsible for a possible discovery for a major landmass. They told us that with the money that we would eventually receive it would enough to create our own townships. People these days are so deceiving; I only fantasize of a world full of honesty.  At the time this was quite appealing seeing that I had a family of six all living in a two-room apartment in the middle of the city. Life was horrible back home, that’s why I assumed embarking on this journey would be one small risk for a future filled with success.

Dusk has approached; I am sitting in bed; the cold hard and partly frozen floors of the Hold of the ship sleeping next to about thirty other men all with the exact same desires as me… success. I’m going to read my book, one of the only things that rids my mind of the horrors of my journey to the North Pole. It tells the story of the Salem Witch Trials. A story of a group of children killed because of accusations against them conducting witchcraft, a very sinful act in the eyes of the Puritans. 

The Unappreciated Kind

The puritans were people of strict moral. They were against the common pleasures in life. The general public opposed Puritans because they were against the common practices of the Church of England such as celebration.  Because of this Puritans had been stereotyped as very unpleasant people. The word of a ‘New World” being discovered was circling Europe. The Puritans took advantage of this and moved there in an attempt to create their own world, without oppression from higher order; they called it ‘New England’.

The American Dream was what powered life in America since the very beginning. For example the puritans came to America with the dream of having their own civilization enforced by their own morals and beliefs, and no others. People of the lower class living in Europe soon heard of their success, and this drove them to come to America to achieve success. This cycle continued, and it is still continuing. The Puritans essentially sparked the creation of country we now know as America.

Over the years Puritans have gained a reputation about being very unpleasant people. This occurred because of certain practices and beliefs they conducted and opposed. The ignorance of the common man blocked out the good puritans did as individuals and as a group of people. It is true that a lot of practices performed by the Puritans are unethical in today’s standards but that shouldn’t change the fact that they were essentially partly responsible for the creation of America. History books are opinions, not facts.

Their Dreams Fulfilled

Over the years millions of people have migrated to the United States hoping for one thing, a higher quality of life, may it be caused by poverty, or suppression from a higher order. The American Dream is the one idea that captivates each persons mind with the notion to become something or someone greater in life. America is where dreams are to be lived, not to be dreamt. Because of this America has become a very diverse country, with residents from all over the world. It is a country of little history but greater virtue.

            Both my mom and my dad grew up in quite successful households. Both my parents graduated high school around the 80s and from there they had to choose their career paths. At the time to be successful you either had to become a doctor or an engineer. My mother chose to do what she was best at and enhance her skills in the field of art.  On the other hand my dad chose to become an engineer.  Once my dad graduated college and started working as an engineer in a firm he was introduced to computers and software programming. At that time opportunities to work in that field were not many and he decided to pursue software engineering. As a result he moved to America for higher education to see if he could instead work with software, his primary interest. He came to America to pursue higher studies and then find a job in the software engineering field. My mom followed him to the USA after his studies were over.

            My dad now works for a successful software consultant company and my parents have raised two children, my sister and me. I am proud to say that he has purchased his dream car and everything else he ever wanted as a child. Now that my sister and I have grown older, and do not need as much nurturing as we did when we were small my mom has started to paint again. She has had multiple pieces of her art win awards and she has started selling too, hopefully she will continue her love for art and become famous.

I aspire to accomplish my greatest dreams, while doing what I enjoy the most just like my parents did.