Advanced Composition: Taxi Cab Prompt

There's an urban legend that's been circulating for years about a taxi cab that doesn't take you where you want to go, but where you need to go. One night, you step into this cab. 

A Sunken Realization

It was a regular Sunday morning in Sienna Kai’s household. It was quiet and relaxing until the moment she opened her eyes.  All hell broke loose once she realized that her research paper on the Titanic that she had not started was due the next day. She unplugged her phone from its charging station and raced to her closet to get dressed. She threw on a Northwestern sweatshirt, jean shorts, and a pair of Chuck Taylors immediately after ordering an Uber. It was time to go to the library and write an extensive research paper in a short period of time. When the Uber arrived, she hopped in, and the driver gave her a newspaper entitled “Unsinkable Titanic!” There was another newspaper in the backseat with an article headlining the “Dreadful Calamity Occurring in April of 1912.” Both were original copies according to the Uber driver. Sienna was confused how her Uber driver knew she was writing a research paper about the Titanic, but she was grateful for sources she could use in her bibliography.

After some time passed, Sienna looked up at her surroundings and noticed an unfamiliar neighborhood. Very alert, she commented, “Where are we going?” The driver responded, “Where you need to go to receive an A. We’re going to the house of someone who can guarantee that for you!” Suddenly, the car made a stop in front of an old, dilapidated Queen Anne-style house. The driver pressed a button on his steering wheel, and the surroundings changed. The Uber car quickly turned into a Ford Model T, and the old house became a beautiful, seemingly renovated residence with purple lilacs embedding the porch. Sienna saw the clock in the Uber turn back because it was now 11:52 in the morning, and the year was now 1931. An older lady was standing in the doorway of the house waiting for Sienna to enter. The Uber driver took Sienna to the best of research sources: a Titanic survivor named Margaret Brown! Also known as “Molly,” the woman in the doorway was best remembered for her role as a heroine when she assisted people in evacuating the sinking boat and in encouraging Titanic crew members to go back and look for any survivors. She was even referred to as the “Unsinkable Molly Brown” in a later documentary about the Titanic’s aftermath.

Molly Brown was the perfect source for Sienna to use for her research paper! She was a first-hand account of the sinking ship, a living survivor, and she had original artifacts that could embellish Sienna’s research report. Not only did she educate Sienna on the ship’s history, the ship’s sinking, and the ship’s aftermath, Molly Brown also taught Sienna valuable life lessons. Sienna learned the importance of never giving up and being persistent. Who knew that an Uber driver was the key component to getting the information that Sienna absolutely needed to write a thorough analysis of a sinking ship? Needless to say, she received an “A” on her Titanic research paper once she returned to the year of 2019 to turn it in.

-Stephanie Sandra