Starling

She had been sleepless, restless, when the low rumbling noise reached her from below. She could have easily ignored it, but the sound, so like a passing steamtrain, had stirred something inside her. That hadn't been a normal noise to come from a place like this, already alive with its own sounds. She sat up and fumbled in the darkness of her cabin for a few minutes, trying to turn on the light. The little bulb lit up brightly and instantly blinded her. Electrical light was a modern invention she wished she could have ignored. She turned away from it and her thoughts returned to the earlier noise. It had sounded so far away and yet so close. It had sounded so real.

She sighed, as she would never know. Even if she did leave her cabin to try and find out, she would be noticed and stopped by one of mama's friends. Then she would be firmly escorted back to the safety of her cabin, because a young impressionable girl like herself shouldn't be out at this time of night. They were all up by now, she could hear their annoyed voices just outside her door. For a moment she thought one of them was going to knock on it, but they just continued to hound the steward, demanding to know what was wrong.

Wrong? Only then did she notice that the continuous movement she had grown used to was gone. They were lying still.
Something exploded in her brain, it made her feel so dizzy that she lay back down again. Everything came together in her mind; the noise, the commotion in the hallway. It all clicked together and for the first time in her life she had complete clarity in her head. Quickly, she got out of bed, walked towards the door and locked it. Just as she was pushing the heavy armchair that stood in the middle of the cabin against it, she heard the bell toll three times.
Someone knocked. A voice didn't wait for her to answer, it simply said to come on deck as quick as possible. And then it moved on, knocking on her mother's door and repeated the same message. Faintly she heard her mother reply and a few hasty minutes later she would be leaving her cabin, making sure she was taking her little son and her jewelry along. Her mother would leave her behind, they would meet on deck. She could save herself.

She smiled and sat down in the armchair. She thought about the cage that trapped her since birth, she saw its small door slightly ajar. Yes, she certainly would save herself.

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