THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HEAVEN
Chapter One
The wreck of Titanic looms like a ghost out
of the dark. It is lit by a kind of moonlight, a light of the mind. We pass
over the endless forecastle deck to the superstructure, moving faster then subs
can move...almost like we are flying. We go inside, and the echoing sound of
distant waltz music is heard. The rust fades away from the walls of the dark
corridor and it is transformed...we emerge onto the grand staircase, lit by
glowing chandeliers. The music is vibrant now, and the room is populated by men
in tie and tails, women in gowns. It is exquisitely beautiful. We sweep down
the staircase. The crowd of beautiful gentlemen and ladies turn as we descend
toward them. At the bottom a man stands with his back to us...he turns and it
is Jack. Smiling, he holds his hand out toward us. Rose goes into his arms, a
girl of seventeen. The passengers, officers, and the crew of RMS Titanic smile
and applaud in the utter silence of the abyss. As Rose glances upward she sees
that Cal is nowhere to be found, but she doesn't really care, now that she has
Jack.
Jack finally speaks Rose. "I have been
waiting for you. Where have you been?"
Rose says she's been on Titanic all along,
that she hid because she didn't want to be found. She couldn't remember
anything since she walked through the door. She couldn't remember her
granddaughter Lizzy or that she was on the Keldysh. But she couldn't help it;
she missed him. Jack is glad that they are finally together. Rose tells Jack
that they should go to her stateroom and go see her mother. They walk hand in
hand. Rose tells Jack her life story. Not in a real hurry to reach her room,
she told him that she took his name after the sinking, traveled everywhere that
they promised, became an actress, had two wonderful boys, and married Calvert.
Jack was happy for her; he really was. She asked Jack what had happened to him.
He said that he was holding her hand one second; the next, he was asleep. When
he woke up he was on the ship. He remembered nothing that had happened, only
Rose.