Nikos

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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 - 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 - 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.