Anastasiia Mitchell - Nikos

“I want to go to Mummy! Please, get me there!” I begged again.

“What’re you saying, you little […]? Mummy?” Ramazan’s mate burst out laughing, the former dragging me away.

When would my tortures come to an end?

The man carried me back to the hold and shut me in there. I was desperate. I didn’t know if I would survive or not.

Finally, I was left alone there. Fortunately, Ramazan didn’t touch me – he was forbidden to.

Three days passed. The ship was moving somewhere. Obviously, the captain wasn’t drunk already, so that he could sail the ship.

No one brought me food. I did with water only. Ramazan sometimes looked in the hold to put a small jug of water by the door and then leave again. He didn’t say a word.

Maybe, they decided they would leave me alone?

Fortunately, my hands were free, so I could move them. This meant that I could try turning the hook again! But, whenever I made another attempt to do that, I saw the evil mad open the hold’s door, or something else stopped me from doing that. Something inside me said: “It is not time yet.”

In the morning of the fourth day, I heard the three men bustle about some stuff. They were moving some boxes somewhere above.

After some time, Ramazan got in the hold:

“Your days are numbered, you […]! Do you hear me?”

I pretended to be sleeping.

“Do what you want, […]! In a few hours, you’ll be dead!”

When would he stop swearing…? I wanted to cry again. But I tried to hold myself back. Now, it was more than necessary.

When Ramazan left, I got back to the hook. I believed that I would escape for sure!

I said the prayer again and set to work. That time, I had nothing to stop me.

Suddenly, I felt a jolt. It wasn’t me – it was the ship! What was the matter?

I ran up to the hold’s door. Nothing. I knocked at the door.

“Let me out! Please! Something’s wrong!” I shouted.

No answer.

“Let me out! I want to go out! Please! Someone! Help me!”

Still no answer.

What was going on? I didn’t know exactly, but, judging by the behavior of the men, who didn’t even react to my cries, something terrible had happened.

The hook! It was my way to salvation! I needed to be quick!

I turned it first to the right, then to the left. The wall moved.

I looked out. What I saw plunged me into shock.

The ship was slowly sinking!

What should I do now? I didn’t want to die, despite the fact that Ramazan said I would! I wanted to live! And live a long life!

I wondered where the three men were. Were they still on the ship?

A strip of land appeared in the distance. I thought I mustn’t have stayed here any longer. I had to take action.

The splashing sea. The sinking steamship. However tragic all this was, I had to save my life as fast as I could. Although I didn’t know what it would end with.

How could I reach the land? I was asking this question to myself because to swim such long distance without any help meant eventual getting exhausted.

I remembered that I had put on my best dress for my birthday, and I hadn’t changed it since that moment on. So, it had turned into rags now. However, it didn’t matter anymore. I would have never been able to put on a dress like this one. Perhaps, because I would be torn to pieces by one of these men or even the Sultan. Or I’d be beaten to death. Frankly speaking, I didn’t want to think about what was going to become of me.

I started praying again:

“Oi ta Herouveim mistikos eikonizontes kai ti Zoopio Triadi ton Trisagion imnon prosadontes pasan tin viotikin apofomefa merimnan os ton Vasilea ton olon ipodeksomenoi tais aggelikais aoratos doriforoumenon taksesin. Allilouia.” 12 12 We who mystically represent the Cherubim, and who sing to the Life-Giving Trinity the thrice-holy hymn, let us now lay aside all earthly cares that we may receive the King of all, escorted invisibly by the angelic orders. Alleluia. (Translation from Greek). This is the transliteration of the prayer. The original version in Greek is as follows: Οἱ τὰ Χερουβεὶμ μυστικῶς εικονίζοντες καὶ τῇ Ζωοποιῷ Τριάδι τὸν Τρισάγιον ὕμνον προσᾴδοντες πᾶσαν τὴν βιωτικὴν ἀποθώμεθα μέριμναν ὠς τὸν βασιλέα τῶν ὃλων ὑποδεξόμενοι ταῖς ἀγγελικαῖς ἀοράτως δορυφορούμενον τάξεσιν. Ἀλληλούϊα.

I decided to look out and then look down. Maybe, there would be something that’d help me. So I did.

Exactly! There was also a part of the deck down there. I saw a boat with oars tied to! There was a boat down on the deck!

I jumped down. The deck wasn’t far from the place where I was. Therefore, there must have been a cord thanks to which I could lower it. And the cord also was there!

I hoped I would be lucky that day.

I took the cord and got hold of the boat. It was very difficult for me to manage this, but I tried hard. I tried hard, because I wanted to live. The desire to live overcame everything else – my tears and my fear, for example.

…Done! I did it! I did it! Allilouia! Euharisto, Fee! 13 13 Thank God!

Fortunately, Daddy also taught me some naval schooling in case I decided to become a fisherwoman.

I think it was the most terrible and at the same time salutary day in my life. Anyhow, with difficulty, I reached the sea surface. However strange it sounded, the sea was almost calm. It meant that there was something wrong with the ship! Probably, it was fully my fault. But, maybe, something had already been wrong before I was imprisoned. Nevertheless, I didn’t think much of it. I needed to save my life.

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My Cyprus, I love you! ( Greek ).

A kind of Greek cheese pie.

You have turned thirteen today! (Gr.)

Thank you very much, Mummy! (Gr.)

You’re very welcome, dear Ermina! (Gr.)

My God! (Gr.)

The square brackets are used to denote sworn language.

My God (Gr.)

The text of the Hail Mary Prayer in Greek: Hail Mary, full of grace. This is the transliteration of the prayer. The original version of the prayer (Greek) is as follows: Θεοτόκε Παρθένε, χαῖρε, κεχαριτωμένη Μαρία, ὁ Κύριος μετὰ σοῦ. εὐλογημένη σὺ ἐν γυναιξί, καὶ εὐλογημένος ὁ καρπὸς τῆς κοιλίας σου, ὅτι Σωτήρα ἔτεκες τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν.