Josef Pieter Janssen made his way along the main deck of the steamship. Several couples stood in different spots watching the Sun sink slowly into the water.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” he asked an inch away from a man who stared at him, half-scared. “Much nicer than back home!”

He walked up behind one woman who jumped suddenly when he burst out, “It will be even better in New York!”

Josef noticed that–couple by couple–some people retreating and thought it was unfortunate that so many of them were heading to their cabins just as he was arriving. He didn’t get much time outside of Steerage.

Now his own time was up, it seemed, as he turned and spotted an officer making his way across the deck. Not wanting to face the wrath of the steamship company, he quickly headed for the stairs and descended to the Steerage deck.

When he stepped out into the open room, his eyes darted around, and he quickly located his travelling companions. From the looks of things, the three of them had not moved much since he went up. They sat huddled together, talking amongst themselves. They were very close, and while he had not been part of their group for very long, he was grateful they had brought him along. They stopped conversing and looked up as he approached.

“We were just talking about you,” Maria said. “We’re so glad you came with us.”

“You’re glad I came with you?” Josef asked. “I’m the grateful one. I’m the one who was lucky enough to know the three of you. I’d still be stuck back home if you hadn’t given me this chance.”

“There’s . . . no one else we’d have . . . rather brought along,” said Johann, slurring some words. He must have been drinking. “You’re our ticket to freedom!”

Elizabeth jumped in. “What Johann means is, you are very talented. You will be successful in America, and we will probably need your help!”

Josef smiled and sat down next to Maria. She was, he thought, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He must have sat a bit too close, though, because she edged away slightly.

The four of them talked and played games into the night. Finally, the time came to rest, and they retired to their bunks: on one side, Maria on the bottom and Elizabeth on top; on the other, Josef on the bottom and Johann on top. Johann had insisted that Josef take the bottom space. What a nice gesture!

Josef was asleep almost instantly.

“Josef, my friend, you deserve so much better than this life!”

Johann and Josef were sitting at a small table. Josef didn’t know Johann very well, but he was glad that somebody took an interest in him. Elizabeth came in and sat down.

“When Johann told me his idea, I knew it was a good one. There is no more deserving creature on God’s Earth than Josef Janssen, I say.”

It was a miracle. The ticketing office had given them four tickets instead of three. Surely it was a sign that someone was meant to go with them. It didn’t hurt that Maria was also tagging along.

“I can’t wait to explore a new land with you. You’re so handsome. And charming.”

“And funny?”

“And—uh—funny. Sure.”

This put Josef at ease. And yet he felt anxious. Something wasn’t right. What was it? His life? His work?

His heart. It was beating too fast. His lungs. Where was his breath? He couldn’t breathe. Why wasn’t be breathing?

Josef’s eyes shot open, but he could see nothing. Were they even open? There was only darkness. He still wasn’t breathing. There was something on top of him. Where was his sight? Where was his breath? He was straining now, but he couldn’t sit up.

Suddenly, the ship lurched, and he heard a sharp thud. Immediately his body was free, and he shot up. He slowly regained his faculties as he feasted on breath after breath of air. A pillow had fallen to the floor, but it wasn’t his pillow; he still had it. Wait, who was next to the pillow on the floor?

Johann lay motionless on the ground, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling. Josef noticed a small amount of blood trickling from his head.

“Oh no, you had a little tumble, didn’t you?” Josef asked as if addressing a toddler. He grabbed Johann and with great difficulty began to hoist him to his feet. Johann’s head banged the side of the bunk. “You are much heavier then you look!” Johann continued to stare.

Finally, Josef managed to get Johann situated. He patted him lightly on the head. “You are a deep sleeper! Don’t worry, you’re all back to normal now. Goodnight!”

Josef settled back into his bed and smiled as he drifted back to sleep.

The next morning, Josef was awakened by a sharp scream. He might have fallen out of bed were it not for the female body standing right by him.

“Johann! Johann!”

Elizabeth was attempting to rouse her beloved from his inexplicably deep sleep.

“I couldn’t wake him up last night,” said Josef. “He must have been exhausted.”

Elizabeth lowered her head below the top bunk. “What did you do?” she asked, accusingly.

“Oh, it was no big thing,” said Josef. “He fell out of bed, and I helped him right back up. He must be sleepwalker, though, because he never woke up!”

Elizabeth turned and made eye contact with Maria, who simply shrugged her shoulders.

“Josef,” Maria said, “Why don’t you go updeck? It might be your last chance. The officers will be changing their schedules what with us arriving tomorrow and all.”

Josef thought this sounded like a good idea. After putting on his shoes, he headed for the stairwell. As he left, he thought he heard Elizabeth tell Maria, “I’ll do it.” How exciting! She must have had something planned for their last night at sea.

Josef found a stretch of deck with no one nearby. He placed his arms atop the railing and leaned forward, taking a deep breath of fresh salty air. He closed his eyes and felt his body slowly rocking back and forth in concert with the ship. Even with the sounds of the passengers and the seagulls and the churning water, he felt peaceful, but he was also restless from being stuck in Steerage all night.

He opened his eyes, turned, and started to walk toward the rear of the ship. He had only taken a couple of steps, though, we he heard a clanging sound, and the railing shook violently. He thought he heard someone let out a short yelp, and he spun around, but there was nobody there.

He resumed his walking and noticed a man and a woman up ahead pointing toward the water. The man left the railing and soon returned with an officer. Josef took this as his cue that his visit to the main deck had been cut short.

Well enough, he thought. He would soon have all the fresh air he wanted.

He walked quickly but inconspicuously toward the nearest stairwell and returned to the Steerage deck. It was crowded, as usual, and he made his way back to his bunk. He found Maria sitting alone.

“Is Elizabeth making new friends?” he asked.

Maria jumped a little and looked up at him. “Where’s—” she began, “I mean, I’m not sure. I thought she went to stretch her legs.” She stood up quickly. “You didn’t see her?”

“No, I only came back down because the officers were out.”

Maria’s eyes narrowed, and they quickly jumped from side to side, as if she were reading something that weren’t there. She rose and walked briskly toward the stairwell.

“They might see you,” said Josef.

“Stay here,” she called back. “I’ll return shortly.”

After patting still-comatose Johann on the head, Josef stretched out on his bed. After a few minutes of blank thought, he leaned over and grabbed a paper from his travel bundle.

“I’m glad you convinced me to get this,” he called up to Johann. “What with people falling out of bed and disappearing, I might just use this policy after all!”

Unfolding the paper, he did his best to smooth it out in the air. The largest letters at the top read, “Life Insurance”. He felt secure knowing that Johann, Elizabeth, and Maria were all beneficiaries.

“Careful with that!”

A feminine hand snatched the paper from him. Maria had returned with Elizabeth. “If you’re like Elizabeth here, you might lose it in the ocean.”

Elizabeth said nothing. See was shivering violently under a blanket that must have been provided by someone up deck. Her skin, along with her clothes, were noticeably damp.

“Elizabeth, you can’t go swimming on a steamship voyage!” Josef said. “Tell her, Johann.” Johann blankly looked on.

Elizabeth coughed, sniffled, and gave the general impression of sickness.

“She’s come down with something,” said Maria.

Josef made to help Elizabeth into bed, but fear filled her face, and she clung to Maria.

“I’ll take care of her,” said Maria. “We don’t want any more mishaps.”

Josef smiled and raised his arms at his sides. “At least no one’s dead!”

“You know what, a meal might do everyone some good. Will you grab us some food?” Maria asked.

Josef soon returned with some “food”. If “Steerage” were a food, this would certainly have been it.

“Oh, would you please fetch me some water?” Maria asked, holding out her small cup.

Josef obliged. He filled the cup and returned to find that Maria had already divided the food between the four of them. Josef handed the cup back to Maria, and she handed him his portion.

“Here, eat this,” said Maria. “Don’t worry about Johann and Elizabeth. I’ll help them.”

By the time Maria had finished helping her friends, Josef had finished his meal. She descended from the top bunks and quickly consumed her own small portion.

“Well,” she said, “That was delicious, don’t you think?”

Josef simply smiled back at her. His closed lips slowly opened to reveal a full set of teeth. He seemed to be holding in a secret.

“What do you mean by that?” asked Maria.

Josef let out a burst giggle. “You were so thoughtful. I saw you adding vitamins to my food while I was getting your water, but I decided you needed them more than I did.”

Maria seemed puzzled.

“While you were feeding Johann and Elizabeth, I switched our plates. Don’t worry, mine was just fine. And now you will be strong as ever.”

Maria did not appear to be strong as ever. Her eyes grew wider in response to Josef’s confession, and her face went flush. Suddenly she hurled over and let out a scream.

“What’s wrong?” Josef moved to help her, but she held out her hand.

“No. No! You’ve done enough. Argh!”

She gripped her stomach tighter, clearly in agony. Before Josef could do anything else, she forced her hand into her throat and began vomiting violently. Watery gray mush spilled on the floor, punctuating her painful screams. Josef watched in horror as her entire meal made its way onto the deck. It was a pity that all those vitamins had gone to waste.

When the entire episode was through, Maria made no attempt to clean her mess. She simply curled up in bed and refused any further help from Josef, who tried multiple times to help her along and tuck her into bed. She remained there for the rest of the night.

Josef, unfazed, quickly set to work cleaning up the mess. One would not know from his whistling that he was cleaning up vomit. He spent the rest of the evening keeping himself occupied and talking to his travelling companions. None of them responded, but he knew they were listening. This continued until sleep came, and Josef settled in, calm in the knowledge that he would soon start his new life in America.

“All ashore that’s going ashore!”

The call came early. The steamship company wanted to move on to its next voyage, no doubt. Crowds of people began shuffling toward the stairwell. Josef jumped up, grabbed his travel bundle, and made to rouse his companions, but he was soon caught in the stream of people.

Soon he was at the bottom of the stairwell, at the top, across the main deck, and down the gangway. The crowd was relentless, and every attempt to return to his friends was met with more force in the opposite direction.

By the time he was on the dock, Josef had to wait several minutes for the remaining passengers to disembark. He spotted a newspaper. Someone in first class must have left it behind. The New York Journal. Assassin’s Bomb Explodes, President Faure is Unhurt. Monday, June 14, 1897. Josef was glad he had left the danger in Europe.

Finally the crowd cleared, and he was able to sprint back onto the ship, but as he reached the stairwell to return to Steerage, an officer ascended.

“Woah! We are dis-embarking at the moment. Time to get off.”

“But my friends are down there. I can’t leave them behind.”

“That lot below? They’ll never let them through the inspection station. They’ll end up right back where they are. No idiots, no drunks, no sick. Sorry. But you’d better hurry if you want to be processed today.”

Josef made to go down the stairs, but the officer firmly grabbed him by the arm and escorted him off the ship. The officer walked him down the gangway and pushed him onto the dock. “You’re done here. Go on!”

Defeated, Josef turned away from the ship. Now he was alone. Somewhere ahead of him, throngs of people were being processed. Behind him, the only people he knew were on their way back home. Home.

Josef set out toward the inspection station. He was going to be last in line. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw flash powder ignited. He turned to look toward the sea, but he could find no trace of a camera or any other device.

Behind him he had the sense that someone was approaching. Curses, the officer had returned with another complaint. Josef turned around to voice his displeasure, but to his surprise, there was nobody there. Instead, he was greeted by what he could only describe as some sort of floating seed. But it was the biggest seed he had ever seen. It was at least the size of a large pig. They must have enormous harvests in America, he thought.

The seed spun slowly and rotated on one side. It opened along the seams, revealing a spherical inner heart. Was it speaking to him? The heart, too, began to open, and particles streamed out in every direction. Even in the bright daylight, the whole display was brilliant beyond all description.

Suddenly the view around him exploded into a million million pieces. Particles of every color whizzed around from one side of the sphere to another. He could no longer see the immigration station. Which way was the ship? Slowly, one by one, the particles began to find their resting places, and Josef’s surroundings became clearer. He was no longer on Ellis Island. He didn’t know where he was.

Instead of wet soil and salty air, he saw pink and tan rocks strewn about a desert landscape. A broad-shouldered man approached, kneeled down, and reached his hand toward Josef, who was now sitting on the ground, mouth agape, clutching his travel bundle.

“Well hello, friend. I’m Karl.

“Welcome to Hunrath.”