story7731.xml

story7731.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-17

My friend Colleen and I had just finished dressing out for gym class and headed over to the isolated wrestling room. Ignorant of any attacks, we giggled and joked and made fun of our teacher's beerbelly- another typical day in the shallow world of high school. I was sitting Indian style, not listening to the teacher, when the announcement came on. I reconized the principal's voice on the loudspeaker and expected the usual lecture about how sluts need to cover up their cleavage. Instead I heard the trembling voice of a scared man. Automatically I assumed somone had brought a gun to school and we were all going to be shot, but the announcement was far worse. The Twin Towers had been destroyed by terrorist planes, and less than 30 minutes ago the Pentagon was hit as well. Well I had no idea what the Twin Towers were, but i sure as hell knew what the Pentagon was. It's about 15 minutes away from our house, and my daddy works there. I went to my next period, not understanding anything about what happened, then i saw the TV. I saw the flames and the smoke and the burning towers and the collapsing Pentagon. And then I imagined life without my dad, and I remembered how I didn't tell him that I love him that morning. And then I fully comprehended what had happened.
It's been an entire year since 9/11, although it seems as close as yesterday. Fortunately my dad works on the opposite wing of the Pentagon, and I can still tell him I love him every morning.
There's a certain aprehension about the future now, for everyone. Every day I wake up in fear something else will perish. It's scary, not knowing what may happen next, but it's not like we did know before.