Written by Double-Sins

Molly began in the vast, open sea. She had been through the water cycle one too many times. She hated it. Every time she’d go into the thick moist cloud, she’d be clumped up with other water molecules. She was claustrophobic even though she had been clumped and bunched together with others practically her whole life. She had been told many different stories of what the molecules had been though before turning into their gaseous state. She heard that some had been through the sewage, to being inside a fish, or more frankly, a human.

Though Molly didn’t want to be in sewage or humans, she wanted to explore the world. But the same thing always occurred. Molly would be evaporated. Then, she’d go through condensation, coming out as precipitation, and be released into the sea again. She would never be put back in the same area, but she would be put back into the ocean. Molly became just as bored with the ocean as she was with going through the water cycle. But this time she had a friend to go with until the water cycle began yet again.

After coming down as rain, Molly hit a slab of ice. She looked around, noticing it was an iceberg. She’d seen a lot of icebergs, above and under the water. She glanced around, seeing all the other molecules that were on the iceberg. She looked only to see the molecules, which were frozen in place. One frozen molecule’s face had a terrified look on it. She looked to the other side of her, seeing a frozen molecule that looked relaxed. She hoped that she would never be frozen, or she’d be the one with the terrified look.

Seeing a large ship coming, many of the molecules began jumping into the icy cold water. But appalled at the size of the ship, she didn’t budge. A few others were struck with amusement, and they didn’t move, either. The ship came closer; it looked as if it was trying to turn. It began to pass the iceberg. She saw large lettering on the side. Reading to herself, she said, "T...I…T…A…N…I…" but before she could say C, the iceberg began to vigorously shake, knocking her and other molecules onto a smooth, golden-brown surface.

Some of the molecules in the ice began to unfreeze. She saw the terrified face molecule moving around, looking just as scared as he did before. People began to come from nowhere, looking puzzled. Molly looked down, seeing red paint scraped onto the iceberg she was once on. As the ice began to melt, the unfrozen molecules started to slide down the ship deck, taking Molly along with them. Molly tried to grasp onto something, but the deck was too clean. Down and down she slid. Just as she was about to get thrown into the water, she was caught by someone, or something. Looking up, she saw a molecule that she’d seen before on the iceberg. He clutched her hand and began to pull her up. He finally pulled her back over the edge.

"Um…oh, my name is Hydro Water. Just call me Hydro." The molecule looked around, seeing the frozen ice being kicked around by the humans, making melted molecules go over the side of the ship.

"My name is Molly. Molly Cule, to be exact. Thanks for helping me, though I would’ve been fine going into the ocean. That’s where I’ve spent most of my life anyway," Molly explained.

"Nah, the ocean is boring," he responded.

"Still, you should have left me. I probably would have jumped."

"Then I would have to jump after you," Hydro said with a smirk.

"Really? Why is that?"

"You know how cold that water is?" he asked, pointing to the dark sea.

"Yes, I do know. I’ve been in colder, I’m sure." He smirked again at her remark. More people began to crowd the deck, many barely missing Hydro. With no warning, the wind of someone’s coat picked Molly and Hydro into the cool, brisk air. The air took them to an open stairway that people were climbing. Trying to cling onto Hydro, Molly grabbed nothing. She looked behind her and saw that he was floating right behind her, looking curiously around and not paying any attention to her. The stairs and wind took them deeper into the ship. The temperature began to rise, making Molly feel energized and jumpy. She also began to feel lighter. She knew what was happening, but this had never happened more than once in the same day. Checking on Hydro, who was still closely following her, she could see him slightly changing into gas.

"You know what’s happening, right?" Molly asked.

"Oh, yeah! I’ve been through this. It’s fun to me!" Molly rolled her eyes in slight annoyance.

"How could you like--" Molly began to say, but she began to materialize again. Making their way further, the temperature rose again, only this time, it got higher quicker. They rounded a corner and slipped through the bottom of a door crack, Hydro following Molly, looking curious and content as ever as Molly began to get worried.

They entered a room, where Molly saw many molecules turning into steam and gas. There were orange and yellow flashes all around them. There were men that were as dirty with coal as Molly could imagine. It was getting so hot that Molly and Hydro instantaneously became steam. Hanging above the many workers now were Molly and Hydro. They saw the men putting coal into hot ovens and heaters, but from the end of the room came a gush of water that began to flood the floor. After those water molecules touched the bottom of the hot ovens, they, like Molly and Hydro, turned into steam and gas.

The men began to flutter around, shouting and barking commands to each other. A water molecule stopped short in front of Molly.

Tapping the molecule lightly, Molly asked it, "How did you get in here?"

The molecule replied softly, "I was swimming around near an iceberg. Well, from what I saw, the ship hit it and water began to get sucked into the big hole. I was sucked into the hole. Then I was brought in here. My friend says it looks like a boiler or coal room."

"How would he know what room it is?" Molly asked skeptically.

"He’s been in a lot ships and boats. He says he’s heard this term many times and he knows a lot about ships. He’s right over there." Molly looked in the direction the molecule directed and saw a lot of molecules clumped together with dust molecules.

Before Molly could ask, Hydro jumped into the conversation. "Don’t think to ask him what room this is, Molly. He’s right. This is the boiler room. I’ve been in a ship similar to this one called the Olympic. They had this room, and that’s how I got evaporated last time. The heat in the room was high…higher than this, now that I think about it." Molly looked at Hydro, annoyed; he winked and smiled at her. She looked away, only to see that more water was coming in, rising rapidly.

The men rushed through the door that slowly but surely was closing. Hydro grabbed Molly, and said, "Come on! We can make it!"

"W-what are you doing?!" she yelled.

"We’re getting out of here. I like getting evaporated, but not twice in one day." Hydro rushed through the crowds and clumps of water molecules, pulling Molly along with him. The door was about to close, but Hydro dove into the water, dragging Molly underneath, too. The door closed with a thick thud on the floor as Molly and Hydro came up on the other side from where they just were. Finally escaping the heat, Molly and Hydro rematerialized into their solid state.

"Now what?" Molly asked.

"Fun is now what." A group of men went past Molly, sweeping her along with them in the wind that they created with their quick walking. Molly quickly grabbed Hydro. She didn’t want to be alone during this seemingly crazy adventure. The flooding water from the boiler room somehow followed them. A man walked past the two molecules. Molly and Hydro clung to the bottom of his long trench coat. He went up four flights of stairs, and went past a sign that said B-Deck. Then they were at the stairs. A breeze of fresh air made its way down there.

"It looks like we’re moving on up!" Hydro said cheerfully. Molly regretted even thinking that she wanted an adventure or something different to happen. She was used to the serene calmness of the sea, not all of the hurrying and panic that this adventure had.

The man went outside, the deck crowded with more people than Molly had ever seen. Men above them were cutting lifeboats down. An officer in a black suit had a whistle. He blew it and called out, "Please calm down. Women and children will board the lifeboats we have first. Then, when most or all of the women have boarded the boats, the men can follow." The officer reached for the woman in front of him. "Come on, ma’am. We must get you aboard. Nothing to worry about."

The man that Hydro and Molly clung to walked downstairs into a room that had a grand bed in the middle and a desk to side. The room had other smooth surfaces and furnishings. He hung his coat up in the closet.

Molly and Hydro dropped to the floor and rolled through the threshold of the closet door just before hearing the secure click telling the man that the door was shut. He walked into the next room, came back with a dress, and set it on the bed. Molly watched as Hydro stood in place and looked around the room with the same curious look he had when they were floating down the stairs.

Molly elbowed Hydro in the side. He released a moan of pain before she said something. "Hydro, I thought guys wore pants and a shirt…not a dress and petticoat."

Hydro looked up at the man as if noticing he’d never seen the dress. "So did I, but humans are different around this world. People wear different things," he said, still rubbing his side where a bruise began to form.

"If you looked around in the boiler room and when we were outside, all the men were wearing pants, shirts, hats, and coats. Not dresses!"

"What can I tell ya, Molly?" he responded. The man threw his clothes off, his clothes being replaced with the dress he had brought out. Then he put his shoes on. Hydro and Molly jumped onto his shoe. But just as they did that, there was a crack in the floor board. Looking hesitantly around, the man stopped. There was a long pause of silence as Hydro and Molly got off his shoe.

The man murmured to himself, "I’m getting on the boat, looking like a woman or not!"

"Maybe going with him isn’t the best thing," Hydro whispered to Molly as he still listened to the ship. A large moan came from the inside of the ship as another large crack ripped through the floor. The man took a few steps to the door. Molly began to run toward the man, but Hydro grabbed her arm.

"Let go of me! He’s our only ticket out of here!" she said hurriedly.

"He won’t make it. Not dressed as a woman, at least."

"Yes, we will!" But as Molly turned around, the man was gone, nowhere to be seen. "Now look what you did!" Before Hydro could respond, a large, ear-splitting sound came from the ship. Then the floor cracked. The boards lifted up, splitting in half. Another, then another snap came from the floorboards, one after another. The floor began to come apart. With a final cry from the inside of the ship, the boards broke free of each other. There now lay a large gap in the middle of the room. Molly was frozen in place, scared to move, whereas Hydro was frantically looking around for a way to escape.

With no warning at all, a flash of electrical lights came from the hole. The lights throughout the ship blinked, then finally went off. Molly grew more scared. She fumbled around until her hand met Hydro’s.

"Please tell me this isn’t real!" Molly squeaked at the end of her sentence.

"This is real. Just calm down, and stop squeezing my hand so tight!"

"Oh, sorry." Molly lessened her grip on his hand, but she didn’t let go.

"Come…I think I found a clear path of unbroken boards that lead to the door to your right." Hydro began to lead the way, but abruptly the lights flickered again. The floorboards shifted, making Hydro unbalanced. He fell into the hole, pulling Molly down with him. The electricity caused intense heat. At the bottom of the flashing hole lay a continuously sparking wire. Molly fell right after Hydro did. Molly’s shrill cries and screams becoming more than Hydro could bear. Molly’s throat started to hurt from her screaming. She opened her eyes to see Hydro floating next her. He was hovering on his back, looking relaxed and calm as ever. Then Molly realized that she, too, was floating along with him. She knew that the heat gave her energy. It was just that in her panicky mode, she didn’t realize that she had all of that energy.

"Finally, you’ve shut up. When did you realize you were floating?"

"Shut up!" Just as Molly said that, the top part of the ship broke in half. A roaring came as it separated, the bow now going into the air. Molly screamed again. It was Hydro this time with the annoyed look on his face. They both continued to float, seeing other water molecules in the air around them.

Molly looked down at the dark open sea. She saw men, women, and children flailing about in the water. Some people clung to pieces of furniture that were left from the Titanic, some stole other dead people’s lifebelts, some were even crude enough to try to use other people to float on. Some were calling for help, some calling for lost family members, some for good friends, some were even calling for God. Molly watched this, being drowned in her sadness while they drowned in nothing but what seemed to Molly a large black hole that was enveloping them into its darkness. The cries and shouts of the people filled the cold air, for what seemed now an overwhelming air of death. In the distance she saw boats. None of them looked as if they were coming back. How cruel and despicable those people were that were now in boats. Not even trying to save their own family, friends, and peers.

As Hydro somehow read Molly’s thoughts, he said, "They can’t save them. If the boats go back, then there is no point. The people down there in the ocean would try to climb aboard the boats and sink them." Molly ignored his words; she turned to see what was left of the Titanic. The railing and a tall skinny rod were left, but they, too, quickly sank with the ship. Seeing no more but the people thrashing and flailing about in the water, Molly rose higher into the air. She and Hydro couldn’t seeing anything else except for the white lifebelts, pieces of wreckage, and small lights the came from lanterns on the lifeboats.

Molly looked to her side. She saw the little molecule that told her that she was in the boiler room. Molly didn’t see any other molecule next to her, so she glided through the air towards her.

"Where is your friend?" Molly asked softly. Hydro got on the other side of the molecule.

"I…I don’t know. I…can’t…find him." Molly looked sadly at Hydro. All three of them stayed huddled together, forming a small but seeable cloud. Dust molecules began to attract themselves close to Molly, Hydro, and the small molecule. Many molecules were talking about the shipwreck. Some, like the small molecule, were talking about lost ones. But Molly didn’t lose anyone in this horrific incident. She gained two friends, which could now travel and be with her while going repeatedly through the water cycle. Being a cloud let Molly and the others watch what was happening with the world. Later, when the cloud became heavy enough with evaporated water molecules, Molly, Hydro, and the molecule would fall, fall down to their next adventure, to their forever repeating life.

The End.

Stories