Lorna Olitch

The Legend of Rigel Lorna Olitch

April 14/15, 2012 commemorated the 100 anniversary of the sinking of the famous ocean-liner RMS Titanic. Here is a story I wrote to honour all the people and their beloved pet dogs who perished on the fateful night. This is a children's story about First Officer William Murdock's Newfoundland dog Rigel. The story is a legend based on an true historical event that happened right after the sinking of the doomed ship. It was said to be that this dog heroically saved a lifeboat of people who narrowly survived from being rammed by the rescue ship Carpathia in the deep darkened and frigid waters of the Atlantic. Rigel was reportedly hailed as a major factor in preserving a number of lives that night and preventing them from becoming themselves victims of the ill-fated Titanic. You may find that the style that this story is written in is a bit unusual. That's because I've written it from Rigel's point of view. He was as the legend tells us, a survivor of the rragedy himself and so lived to tell his tale as the narrator.