story725.xml

story725.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-06-06

I couldn't believe what happened yesterday. I still can't believe it. I feel as if I am having a nightmare. My head is a little cloudy and fuzzy. I am walking around in a daze. You know when you get up really early in the morning, and turn on your light you feel a little dizzy and light headed. It's kind of like you're sleepwalking, but you're not. This is reality. Now, wake up!
Yesterday was September 11, 2001. I was in second period when the phone rang. That's normal; all of the teachers call each other. Mrs. Capen walked over to the television and turned it on to CNN. Everything was normal up to that point. When the television was turned on, I thought we were going to watch a movie. But, we weren't. The news was showing a plane crashing into the World Trade Centers. I didn't think that this was really happening. I thought that this was some kind of computer-generated joke that she was playing on us. A very cruel joke. I wouldn't think that she would just go and put in a movie of something cruel like that. The week before that we were talking about Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban, and that was why I thought that the incident with the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon was just a joke. Then the second plane crashed into the World Trade Centers. At that time I was in shock. I didn't care if Mrs. Capen was playing a joke on me or not. Thinking about that, even if it wasn't real is enough to shock you. The average citizen didn't hear any warnings about anything like that happening. We didn't know that something might happen to us on that day. The time that I realized that this was real was during third period in art. I was shocked and ashamed that I really didn't think that what was going on was real. I was ashamed that I actually thought that Mrs. Capen would ever play that dirty of a trick on us.
Then, another shock came during third period. A plane hit the Pentagon. I was scared to death. We live near a power plant, and the people (including me) were scared that a plane was going to crash into that. There were people jumping from the windows high up on the World Trade Centers to try to save their lives. We all started to pray. That was something that I never thought would happen. People were praying that don't even believe in God.
Then came fourth period. That was when the inenviable happened. The first tower hit by the plane came crashing to the ground. I thought that I was going to die.
Throughout that day none of our teachers made us do work. They wanted us to sit there and watch what was happening. Well, they didn't have to want us to sit there and watch it, because we already were. I didn't want to leave any class because I didn't want to miss anything. I was in a hurry to all of my classes, too. Sometime during that day, people in a plane that was headed toward the White House took over a terrorist and got the plane to head away from the White House. They crashed the plane into a field in Pennsylvania.
I am very proud to say that I live in America where the average citizen went running into a building that a plane crashed into to save people. They risked their lives for complete strangers. The police and firemen and women also were very brave to die for strangers. The K-9 dogs should be recognized for their help as well.
Brittany Vanderwalker