story1929.xml

story1929.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-08

I suppose my experience was like any other. I remember feeling my day was so dull and so redundant that I would accept any change in my day, and by the end of that day, I prayed endlessly for everything to be the same as it was before.
I was just leaving chemistry with my friend, Peterson, and we had entered the science hall, which was unusually packed and filled with excited students. I overheard shouts about the World Trade Centre, and had heard that it had even collapsed.
Peterson and I had our doubts. the people that were shouting these things weren't exactly credible sources for the sum of 1+1, nevermind current events. I immediately thought back to a few eyars ago, when a radio duo by the name of Opie and Anthony had played an April fools joke and had reported that (now former) governer Paul Cellucci had died. I tossed the thought of a Terrorist Attack out of my train of thought and pushed the doors open into the main hall.
But upon entering the main hall...the look on everyone's faces. the terror, the confusion. Peterson and I looked at each other, and I said, "...they're not kidding."
Without even thinking, we rushed to the closest teacher department, which was the math department. There were 4 other teachers in there, all of whom who would've screamed at us to get the hell out under any other circumstances. But that day, they didn't even look at us.
All seven of us were huddled over a tiny radio, and that's when I heard it:
"At about a quarter to nine, a plane hit the world trade center, followed shortly by another that hit the other tower. Not long after, both towers collapsed, filling all of the surrounding area with an impearmiable fog and the askes of what is undoubtably the fragments of the dead."
Peterson and I went to MAth right after, and announced the news to the class, and shortly after, the school recieved something I hoped my generation would avoid. the Principal's announcement.
The principals of 1942 announced it. the principals of 1962, 1969, and now, 2001 have announced it. I was afraid to hear it, to come to the full realization that my country was in peril, that my country is under attack.
I didn't eat that whole day. I just sat in front of the TV's in the library, watching. I sat on my bed in front of my TV, watching. I couldn't turn away for weeks. Who did this? Why? What did we do? What are we doing about this? When can I laugh again?
I soon found out that I had lost no one, and at the time, the death estimation was 5,000, and an extreme guilt overcame me.
That day I decided to write a play about september 11th, and now, I have started it, and hopefully, when I get out of college, I'll be able to put it out and send everyone my own interpretation and emotion during that day. But my biggest hope is that everyone will remember that sense of unity during the months following september eleventh. I remember thinking it odd that it was a tuesday. I remember the flags everywhere. I remember putting out my candle. But most of all, I remember hearing that national anthem in UT stadium, and seeing grown men; tough, gritty, hard grown men from Texas, staring intently at that flag with their chins held high and hands held proudly over their hearts, singing. And I remember that feeling of pride that came over me, and it was then, that I immediately knew that we had won.