Fiction
5 min
Ginger and Pumpkin: The RMS Pawtanic
Vivian Lai
Ginger and Pumpkin were aboard the RMS Pawtanic, a remake of the famous Titanic but for cat lovers. Naturally, cats (and fish) were allowed onboard. Sofia, their human, had gotten a travel-sized container for Pumpkin, which Ginger carried around with her tail. Now, Ginger could take Pumpkin on all sorts of adventures without having to worry about the fish's need for water.
It was 2:18 AM and Ginger couldn't sleep. She had a deep sense of foreboding in her gut, and she couldn't explain it. She hopped from Sofia's bed and slipped through the cat flap leading to the room nextdoor, where her friend Puffy slept curled up on her human Mar's bed. Puffy's white pelt blended into the plush bedsheets.
Sofia and Mar were best friends, so naturally, Ginger and Pumpkin became well acquainted with Mar's cat as well. Eric, the third member of their party, was in the room across from the girls.
Suddenly, the air was filled with a monstrous groan. Ginger's sharp ears picked up the sound of water gushing a few stories beneath them, as well as the terrified screams of crewmen.
Puffy jostled awake, their wide eyes meeting Ginger's.
"What was that?!" Puffy asked.
That's when the alarms began to blare. Low, panic-inducing horns that echoed through the ship. The captain's voice echoed over the speakers, explaining how the ship hit an iceberg and was now rapidly sinking.
Mar was awake now, and the door that connected to Sofia's room flung open. Ginger's human had a wild look in her eyes, standing in her pajamas with Pumpkin's box in her hand. "Why does history just have to repeat itself??"
Ginger took Pumpkin from Sofia, murmuring calming things to the panicking fish as a rapid knocking sounded from the door. Mar opened it to find an alarmed and disheveled Eric.
"We're all gonna die!" A shrill voice yowled dramatically, and Puffy was bowled over by a gray-blue blur. Eric's cat, Blue.
"We have to get to the lifeboats, fast!" Eric said.
Ginger could hear the thunderous water surging in from down below, overflowing the ship's cargo hull. It would start flooding the guest areas before they knew it. Already the ship was beginning to tip, slowly but steadily. Ginger had to sink her claws into the floorboards to keep from sliding as the floor turned more and more diagonal.
"Quickly, grab all your valuables and let's go!" Sofia shouted over the screams of panicking passengers echoing down the corridor.
As the humans ran back to their own rooms, Blue dashed towards the door wildly, nearly falling over as the ship tilted to a 20 degree angle. He waved his tail for Ginger and Puffy to follow.
"C'mon, let's go save spots on the lifeboats for the humans!" He yowled, before sprinting off. Ginger and Puffy looked at each other, shrugged, and bolted after him.
"What happens if we don't get out on time?" Pumpkin shouted from her travel-sized tank wrapped in Ginger's tail.
"Why are you so concerned? You're a fish, you can't drown." Ginger snorted.
"But you're a cat, you CAN drown!" Pumpkin said. "Just ‘cuz I'm a fish, doesn't mean I'm selFISH. Gosh, have some faith in me!"
Puffy and Blue were already dashing towards the deck, but something made Ginger freeze. Her ears swiveled, straining. Was she imagining it... or did she hear some yowls from down below where water flooded, screaming for help?
Ginger decided she couldn't live with herself if she ignored it. She tossed Pumpkin's box towards Puffy, who stared at her with confusion.
"Go, I'll be right there!" Ginger yelled, then ran (more like slid, since the ship was tilted) towards the opposite end of the corridor. She rounded the corner, gravity slamming her into the wall, then bounded down a few flights of stairs. She skidded to a halt as she beheld the scene before her.
The corridor in the floor below was filled with gushing water, swirling around her paws where she stood on the stairs. It would climb rapidly upwards, breaking into the next floor in a couple minutes. Her floor.
Ginger spotted a flash of fur at the window of one of the doors. Three kittens, each only the size of her leg, their tiny eyes lighting up at the sight of her. The poor kittens' humans must've left them behind in their haste to find a lifeboat, and now the door was stuck.
Ginger scanned the hall. Amongst the debris swirling in the water was a heavy brass trumpet. She didn't waste a second before springing into the water, paddling against the current and wrapping her tail around the trumpet to drag it along. When she reached the kittens' window, she drew back and slammed the trumpet against the glass with all her might.
A thin crack blossomed along the glass. The kittens shrank backwards, bracing themselves. Ginger struck the glass again and again. Slowly, more cracks formed.
On the seventh bash, the glass finally broke free. At that point, the water was high enough to flood in through the cracked window, nearly sweeping the kittens right back inside as they clambered out and began to paddle.
"Go..." Ginger wheezed, a wave of exhaustion suddenly hitting her. "Get to safety..."
She tried to swim towards the stairs, which were now almost fully submerged, but her legs screamed in protest. She was so, so tired from the exertion of breaking the window.
Her body stopped responding. She urged her paws to paddle, but her muscles were so weakened. Her head sank below the surface, too tired to stretch her neck for air.
Come on... come on... she urged herself. She had to keep going.
But she was so tired.
So, so, so tired.
That was her last thought before the world went black.
Ginger startled awake, and everything began to burn. Her eyes, her nostrils, her mouth. She flailed in space for a few seconds before realizing: she was still underwater. And even with her night vision, she couldn't see a single thing. Until a hand closed around her scruff and yanked her out of the water.
At first, Ginger yowled and flailed, but that's when she heard a familiar voice. A voice that always meant home.
"Ginger! Oh my Ginger!" It was Sofia. Sofia held Ginger as she coughed out all the seawater from her lungs, curling up shivering in her human's warmth. Ginger heard Pumpkin next, seeing that her best friend was safe in her box beside Sofia. Puffy, Blue, Mar and Eric were there too. Her friends. Her family.
They had all made it onto a lifeboat. They were going to be okay.
As for Ginger, she'd probably miraculously been swept out a broken or open window from the ship, then tossed by the waves until the ocean decided to return her to the ones she loved most.
As Ginger took in breath after breath, relishing in the embrace of her beloved human with her best friends beside her, she realized how truly lucky she was. After all, they had now survived a sinking ship. Any one of them could've been lost. But no. Whatever invisible force decided that the group was worthy to pull through, Ginger thanked them with all her heart. Because after this, she would never take a moment spent with them for granted again.
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