(Sunday, April 27, 2014) My birthday. Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah) 2014 begins in the evening of Sunday, April 27 and ends in the evening of Monday, April 28. Solar eclipse is April 29.
I am Michelle Obama. My companion and I plan to board the Queen Mary but my father, a kind and protective soul, doesn’t want us to go, so we have to sneak onto the ship. I am Michelle and I am my companion, Denise.
The ship with her distinctive black hull is anchored about half a mile out from a busy English beach, not in a sheltered bay. There is a precarious, narrow pier made of sail, strips of yellow and red fabric (yellow for the right foot, red for the left), that zig zags out to the ship. When we first approach, the waves are roiling. It’s not safe to board. We need to evade my father, who is searching for us, so we duck into a large pavilion at the edge of the beach.
This historic, grey stone building is full of small rooms with wide iron gates for doors. The gates are medieval and ornate. I think they are prison doors from the Tower of London. But the doors are not locked, they are open and welcoming. We slip into one of the rooms to wait for the sea to calm. My father doesn’t find us, in spite of the open chambers.
We head back out to the beach. The waves have stilled and people are making their way to the cruise ship. Denise and I follow them. I am holding a small, lidded ceramic vessel. It is extremely precious. I hold it protectively, near my heart, one hand on top, one hand on the bottom.