“Anthony! Anthony! Ant! Time for dinner!” Called a certain mother of a certain Anthony. Anthony didn’t respond. He loved watching his mother have to get a personal butler to fetch him. The butler was growing quite tired of the routine of Anthony responding to everything he said as, “Why?” As all the previous butlers had been asked and since they were not allowed to touch or have anything else touch the only child. This task proved to be such a pain since Anthony went through every little trouble to make the butler’s life more difficult. But this time the butler came to Anthony’s  1 acre “bedroom” and picked a startled Anthony up directly, obviously savoring every moment of it.
     “Hey!” Anthony, startled by such a, what he thought dangerous and daring move protested, “Hey! You know I’ll sue you for this, you won’t ever find a job after my parents are through with you! Begrudgingly the butler put him down, much wanting to keep his job. Given the opportunity, in a flash the butler was howling, hopping up and down clutching his shin in pain while Anthony, wearing a triumphant grin, bounded up the stairs.
     That night Anthony was listening in on the adults conversations. He thought himself terribly smart for installing a microphone in the living room even if the duct tape in the middle of the wall was seen all too clearly and his parents had seen him tape the microphone on, they just hadn’t the heart to tell him. While listening, even though all he could hear was hushed voices Anthony could catch a few words like “surprise”, “bought the tickets”, and “can’t wait to see.” Which was making Anthony quite excited since now he knew something interesting and most likely costing a fortune was about to happen. Soon, he thought, soon.
     Anthony opened his eyes. Morning again? He felt like he had just fallen asleep. Now he had to go to the puffy old private school where all the puffy old rich kids went to. Then he remembered, the surprise! Anthony flew down the stairs to the dining room that dwarfed his own bedroom. He jumped onto the couch where his parents sat.
     “What is it? What’s the big surprise?” Anthony excitedly asked. Anthony’s mother feigned surprise. “Why how did you know?” Anthony proudly told his mother what she already knew, sparing no glamour on what he thought was genius. “Well,” his mother said with gusto, “We are boarding the Titanic!” Anthony stared at her blankly. “Oh, right the Titanic is the largest most luxurious ship of the day, it cost a small fortune mind you.” Anthony let out a whoop, ”When can we go?”
     “Right now, the butler packed your bag. Your father and I have a limousine waiting outside. Oh and do try to be nicer to the butler next time.”
“Okay!”
     Anthony’s mother smiled at the promise that would undoubtedly be broken.
“Isn’t he the sweetest?” She asked the father. “Oh what? Yes of course.” The father buried in a newspaper.
The giant harbor where most people would look at in awe Anthony looked at it disdainfully and called it too small.
“Ant! you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, Maybe the trip will be better than you’ve ever dreamed.”
“Don’t call me Ant.” He implored.
     Anthony thought himself as quite a genius for silenced his mother like so. He remembered sullenly the nights that his mother cried herself to sleep. Why did he have to be such a bad boy? Couldn’t he just be like her other friends’ children? Must he cause his parents so much pain and frustration?This time however, it was not because of Anthony, his mother was silenced by the Titanic.
What a beauty it was! In all its splendor the gargantuan hull smashing the waves and the high decks towering over the harbor and the people on it. Four cylindrical smokestacks rising like eagles in the sky it completely filled the gawking onlookers field of vision. Even the disagreeable Anthony stared at the ship with astonishment.
     “Well, here we are, bring up your baggage.” Anthony glared venomously at his father. “I mean the butler will carry up your baggage for you. His father nodded to his butler and took Anthony by hand up the stairs of the Titanic.
     As the three of them checked into the Titanic Anthony noticed a golden food cart left unattended by a worker who needed to answer to the call of nature and began stuffing his face with the pastries in it. The worker came back seeing a boy with his cheeks full and looking quite satisfied. The worker quickly took Anthony and brought him to his parents where he presently began yelling at how those were meant for other guests and that they weren't the only ones on the ship and later grudgingly accepted $10,000 to not kick them off the ship.
“Oh Ant, you have to stop taking things that aren’t yours. If you wanted something you could have just asked us.”
“Don’t call me Ant.” Was his only reply.
     The family bedded down to sleep on the three king sized beds and slept soundly till morning. Anthony, the first to wake in the morning jumped up catlike and snuck out, thirsty for mischief.
     “Put that doughnut down son, it’s not yours.“ A burly old man grumbled. ”It is now.” Anthony spoke with glee and ran off with the doughnut stuffed in his mouth. He turned round a corner and began walking, no reason to run here. There were so many people he was impossible to spot. He went to a small coffee shop and walked to the cashier.
“Well what a job you have. Taking people’s’ orders at an out of buisness shop.”
“Um, would you like to buy something?”
“Oh, no, just thought I’d tell you that.”
Anthony called her a few more names and stuck around some more to make sure the cashier’s look, which was now one of extreme annoyance, warded off any possible customers. He walked some more and saw an elderly man. “You’re fat.” Anthony chirped.
     “Excuse me?” The man asked, hardly believing his ears. “You’re fat.” Anthony  repeated. Now this would not have been a big deal if that elderly man had not been the owner of the ship Anthony was standing on. But he didn’t know that. When he got back to the hotel his parents were still asleep, they hadn’t seen anything. When his parents woke the morning had been spent and it was time for lunch. They dressed and left the room, completely oblivious of the tears Anthony would soon cause them.
    “I want that” Anthony pointed at a eight foot tall teddy bear with Ultraplush™ stuffing and dyed velvet covering. Only yours for $10,000. This was before inflation mind you.
“I want that.” He repeated. His dad sighed and took out his wallet. After it was paid for the family walked down to a steak place and ate, unnoticing the dirty looks passed to them. After Anthony’s family went back to their room they sat down and began to watch a movie. It wasn’t long though, before they heard a knock on the door. The old man who was called fat appeared at the door.
     “Why hello Mr. Hooligan! What brings you here?” Anthony’s father asked. “I’m sorry to inform you but your son is becoming a public disturbance. He is stealing from shops, calling people profanities, and warding off customers. If parental action is not immediately performed we will have to escort you off the ship.” He spoke in the trademark gravelly tone everyone recognized.
 “Thank you, w-we’ll keep that in mind” the shocked mother spoke in a wavering tone. Mr. Hooligan closed the door and left. After several admonishments and empty threats Anthony skulked off to the off limits area,he boilers.
After slinking past the couple on the Titanic who were being held high in the air, their hair billowing like a sail in slow motion, the girl, Rose saying: “Hold me Jack!” Anthony finally got to the place he was aiming to arrive at.  “Heh, Wow.” Anthony commented at the vast space in which the boilers and airspace was located. Just then Anthony noticed a drill bit and a hammer on the ground. Man, everyone was so mean to him. Time to get some payback.
     A few floors up there was a jolt felt throughout the ship. “We’ve hit something!” One of the crew exclaimed. “An iceberg!”
    “Nothing to worry about, I assure you.” Mr. Hooligan said as a vain attempt to calm everyone down. A few minutes later another person ran up the stairs from the boilers.
     “Urgent news! we’ve sprung a  leak! It must have formed when the iceberg hit!” This, of course was false, but no one knew who made the hole save Anthony. Even as Mr. Hooligan tried calming everyone down in that it was no problem the hole began to widen. Soon the bottom half of the Titanic was sinking. Anthony, who was too busy avoiding being noticed by the crew, could not get on a raft on time. He hit a pipe and fell unconscious, floating on a stray piece of wood across the sea. The next thing he remembered was opening his eyes, cold, sore, tired,and hungry on the beach of an island. Listening to the gulls cries and the rustling of the trees burning in the fire of sunset.
     Anthony was glum, and for good reason. He had single-handedly destroyed a ship and killed hundreds of innocent people. Not only that, but the last thing he said was “I want that.” The guilt was so great that it quite frankly overwhelmed him. He swore that if, by some unearthly stroke of luck he could be given another chance at being with people again, he would try, really try, to be the best person he could be. After searching the surf of the beach he concluded no other life form dangerous to him was around. It was almost nightfall so Anthony tried making a crawlspace shelter there on the beach. It was not very good but it succeeded in making Anthony feel better. He closed his eyes to the world of day and knocked on the gates of the world of night.
     As Anthony opened his eyes to the morning sun he knew something was different. It took him not long to scan the beach before he found the source of uneasiness. Two wet, dark objects had washed up onto the shore. He came over, armed with a stick to investigate. They seemed to be an animals of some sort. He slowly and carefully flipped them over. A shriek of despair traveled throughout the island, even the trees heard it and swayed with fear. The two objects were humans. The humans were his parents.
     Anthony cried over the bodies of his two guardians, asking for forgiveness though he knew he would not get it. Death is a cruel, unsympathetic force. After his tears were dried Anthony decided the least he could do was give his parents the most proper burial he could. He dug two deep holes in the forest and put his parents in. As he piled soil on top of them their eyes fluttered open. He thought he was hallucinating and continued piling soil.
     “Anthony, do stop getting dirt in my eyes, it stings them so.”
     Anthony couldn’t believe it. ”Mom? Dad? you’re alive?”
As his parents dusted themselves off Anthony rushed into their arms. “I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m so, so sorry!” He cried.
“It’s all right Ant, we’re all right. Anthony didn’t even care that his mother called him Ant. His face fell a little when he thought about what he had done on the Titanic.
“Mom, Dad, I need to tell you something.”
“What is it son?” His father asked.
“The Titanic, I sunk it. I didn’t think it would happen like that, it was an accident.”
     “That’s all right Ant, what matters is that we’re together now.” They never talked about the Titanic again.
Slowly, slowly but surely, they began to rebuild their life at the island. This was but the beginning, only a start, only the once upon a time of a fairy tale. The beginning of something new. This was all about a year ago. Now, the family of three, truly a family now pushed their boat, made of hollowed out logs and tree bark for rope out from the sheltered makeshift dock into the open sea. They were sailing now to a new future. The thrilling possibility of finding people again overpowered the creeping fear of drowning. And so, with the light in their eyes, with the wind in their sails, with hope rippling through their systems they sailed. Toward a new future,a new life, a new hope they drifted their way, slowly, slowly but surely toward the sun.