Tears Never Fade- 13 Years After September 11, 2001
It has been over 13 years since the event, yet, it still feels like it happened yesterday.
We were sitting in the car, heading out of the city for a while. It was me, my little sister, and my parents. It was a regular day in New York. It was sunny, and we were stuck in the infinite long line of traffic. Mom and dad were having a conversation about work while my sister and I were being totally ignored. The time was 8.44 AM. Just 2 minutes before what would be known as one of the most horrifying terror attack in the history of the USA.
Since I didn’t have anything better to do, I decided to play a little game with my sister. I snapped the last piece of chocolate from her hand and began to tease her. “Give it back!” she yelled. “Make me!” I replied. “Since you ate my last pop tart, it’s only fair that I eat your last piece, right?” Of course I wasn’t going to eat it. I hated chocolate. And I didn’t want her to cry. However, I didn’t have anything better to do at that moment. “But you don’t even like chocolate!” she yelled even louder. Before I could manage to do anything, she snapped back the piece, and ate it immediately before I could lay my hands all over it again. It’s funny to think about how quick she was, compared to her tiny size. But then again, she was eating candy, so she must’ve been pretty energetic. I looked at the watch once again. It was 8.46 AM. Since it was going to be a long trip, and the road is basically stuck, I decided to close my eyes and sleep. Then it happened.
There was a loud noise and the ground was shaking heavily. “Earthquake!” someone shouted through my open window. We ran out the car as fast as we could, and headed towards the nearest bus stop. I could hear screams from all around me, but I didn’t bother to look. I held my sister’s hand as I looked towards her. But when I looked at her, I became overwhelmed. I had never seen that look on her face, as it looked terrified. And when I turned around towards what my sister was looking at, I saw it. The once blue sky was now turned into a grey blanket covering the sun. Fire lashed out from the tallest building in New York, one of the Twin Towers. And people were running from every direction. Sirens could be heard, as the firemen and the police were racing towards the building. Men and women ran out of their cars for evacuation. I turned my head around again, as I saw mom and dad, horrified. What was going on? Why was this happening? It was all I could think about. It was so confusing and I couldn’t keep my thoughts straight. And I couldn’t believe my eyes.
My heart was beating so fast, I thought it would explode. The atmosphere had completely changed in a matter of minutes. It was as if I was in the middle of a war zone. The buildings were far away, but it felt like they could collapse right above us. The firefighters ran towards the burning building. And we were lined behind the police barriers as my dad’s cell phone began to ring. He picked it up, and answered in a serious tone. Mom looked at him in a concerned way. And as I became curious, I tried to listen to their conversation. But, unfortunately all I could hear was mumbling from the speaker. Dad hung up, looked at us, and said; “I have to go”. “Why? Where? What about our vacation?” My sister was as always the quickest to speak, as she stole the words straight out of my mouth. He placed his arms around our shoulders; “Your dad is needed at the moment. The firefighters need me now. Take good care of each other until I come back, promise?” He gave us all a hug before he went to mom. “Bye, dad” I said. “I promise”. “Good bye, buddy”. I could see mom sad, as dad faded away through the smoke.
I spent the rest of the time waiting for dad to come back, and thinking about whether he was okay or not. All I could think of was all the things we had done together. All the times he would stay home from work, just to take care of me when I had a cold. The first time I managed to catch his ferocious baseball throw, and how I bragged about it for many days. And all those times when we would play football together. These were the moments. The times I would never forget.
I was filled with immediate regret, sadness and loneliness. I should’ve made him stay. We should’ve gone to that vacation instead. I didn’t care if it was selfish. I just didn’t want him to get hurt, or worse. I looked up in the sky. There was a plane heading towards the two buildings. And a moment later, I witnessed the second tower get hit. Did this cause the first building to explode? It was horrible.
Crashing sounds became more and more normal to me, even though they were attacking my eardrums. More and more people were screaming, and throughout the day I could see people come back and forth. None of them were my dad. But I didn’t let myself become bothered about that. All I was worried about was keeping mom and my sister safe. I had to be strong. I promised dad. But for all I knew, he could be trapped, alone, or even dead. I looked up in the sky once again, as I began to see figures descending from the sky. At first, I thought it was big metal parts from the tower, but as they came closer to the ground, it became clearer. They were people, jumping to get out of the burning building. It must’ve taken them 3 seconds to land at least, considering how high they were. But nevertheless, it was horrible and brutal. And all I could do I was to deal with the sight, as I was waiting for my dad to come back. It was horrible. And the feeling of not being able to do anything, while innocent people were getting hurt or killed, was grieving. Eventually, one after the other, the two buildings collapsed, and my dad was nowhere in sight. We desperately began to search for him. He was a good man, and good things happen to those who do good deeds. But it seemed to me that it didn’t apply to everyone. I looked towards my sister. She was probably too young to understand the current situation, but I could see her sorrow. And mom looked so sad. It was horrible. But I couldn’t cry in front of my sister. I had to make her feel safe. And I had to be strong. But witnessing my mom cry like she did was probably the most saddening thing I had ever seen, and I couldn’t hold myself any longer as the tears ran down my cheek as well.
September 11th 2001 was the day of the most devastating terror event in the world history. Many innocent people were killed or injured. And as I eventually found out, dad never made it out of the building as he tried to save all the trapped people inside. If I knew that day would be the last time I’d ever speak to my dad, I would’ve come up with something better to say than just “bye”. He was a good man doing the right thing. He didn’t deserve this. No one did.
Sources:
1.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_for_the_day_of_the_September_11_attacks
2.
https://www.google.no/search?q=911&es_sm=93&biw=1920&bih=971&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=Gua_VJe9L87KOfbNgbAG&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ#tbm=isch&q=9%2F11&imgdii=_&imgrc=aiof-MAfjOc4KM%253A%3B8HHnhZf7QnXDeM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.c2educate.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2013%252F09%252F9-11.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.crossfitosa.com%252Fthursday-911%252F%3B1507%3B1600
