story10957.xml

story10957.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2004-09-12

There's a song somebody does...I can't remember who it is...but the first lines of it were "It was all a dream. I can't believe this is happening." That's a good way to describe what HAS happened.
It was September 11th, 2001. I'm sure that everyone who was alive that day remembers exactly how they first found out about what was going on.
It started out a little strangely for me, but nothing completely out of the ordinary. I had gotten out of bed early that morning, and was surprised to find my sister, Lee Anne still at home. She usually left for work at about seven, so she was up getting ready by six every morning. It was six thirty now, and she was still in her shirt and shorts, on the computer, chatting with someone on the Internet.
"Why aren't you at work?" I'd asked, walking over to the chair beside the computer desk and petting Lee Anne's sleeping cat, Chella. I was still drowsy as heck, and was planning fully to go back to bed as soon as I'd answered this question.
"I'm not going to go in until one," she'd answered, with something of a shrug. She'd missed work the day before...I could assume this was because she didn't feel well. Accepting this answer, we exchanged a few more pleasantries, and then I'd staggered back into my room, sinking back to sleep while smiling at the pictures and posters of various WWF wrestlers on my walls and ceiling. Matt Hardy, Christian, Spike Dudley, among others...
So I was considerably disturbed when, roughly three hours later, I was shaken awake by a sobbing Lee Anne. "Lindsey..." she said shakily, still shaking me even though I was awake. "Get up, come in here, hurry."
Our mother hadn't been feeling well for the past few days, and I assumed her health had taken a turn for the worse...or someone had died, or one of the cats was really sick...something along those lines. So I jumped out of bed, stumbling a little in my covers, and ran into the living room.
My mom was sitting on the couch in front of the television, and my sister was already sitting beside her, not a word from either of them. I was puzzled for just a second-then I looked at the TV and saw smoke. Nothing else...a frantic newscaster's voice, that was all. Just smoke...and the words "Attack on America" flashing across the bottom of the screen.
"What happened?!" I pretty much shrieked, falling into a chair and staring at the screen. I'm not sure if they answered me or not...it gets fuzzy right there. But the news answered me well enough. Two planes had flown into the World Trade Center...the Twin Towers. They were burning and it seemed that a few hundred were dead.
Was it an accident? Who did this? I sat and watched the news, sometimes breaking down into hysterical sobs but mostly just staring with tears running down my face. And then the other news hit as well.
"The Pentagon has also been struck."
I honestly don't remember anymore of that morning...frantic phone calls to family and friends, staring at the television and the horrific footage of the plane crashing into the second building, the reports of the fourth plane going down in rural Pennslyvania, people running for their lives, all the rescuers running into the buildings to get out the poor people who were trapped, scared, jumping for their lives.
"Both of the Twin Towers have collapsed."
They were gone. They and everything around them. Everyone. The massive plumes of smoke drifting into the air at an almost mockingly slow speed. More deaths. The brave, selfless men and women who had run inside the building to get out the helpless victims were now the helpless victims themselves.
There were warnings about possible gas shortages. I can't remember why...something about the refineries being closed. At any rate, me and my mother and sister jumped into the car and took off to town. We had called ahead to my father, telling him that we were going to get our money out of the bank and stock up on supplies.
In retrospect, I should have been amazed at what I saw. Even in this town, Texarkana, from Texas and Arkansas...people. There were people standing in their yards, staring out at the road dumbly. People like me who couldn't keep their nervous gaze from the sky. A man and a boy I think was his son were lying on a sidewalk, holding each other and sobbing. Even this far away, people were crying in the streets. It was incredible.
I can't believe this is reality.