CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The next couple of chapters are dedicated to
all the victims of the terrorist attacks on September 11th,2001. May they all rest in peace.
Jack
and Rose have been together for six months now. They’re both seniors in high school and are still very much in
love.
September 11, 2001
Rose rushed into her room and
quickly switched on the television just to view the horrible scene of the
commercial plane slamming into the first tower of the tallest building of her
city. The building she must have
visited about a thousand and one times.
It was so unreal. She can swear
that if she closed her eyes real hard she’ll wake up and find it was all a
horrible dream. Four planes were never
hijacked and the World Trade Center was still standing tall and proud, ruling
over New York City. But when she opened
her eyes to see the next plane crash into the second tower, she knew it was
real. Her city, no her country had been
attacked and the Trade Center was no more.
Instead it was a giant rubble.
No one could ever recognize it as the gorgeous structure it once
was.
She just hoped that no one she
knew was hurt, killed, or missing. She
prayed that everyone made it out ok.
Jack! Titan High School was just
a couple of blocks away from the trade center!
Picking up her phone she quickly dialed Jack’s number. Jack answered on the first ring.
“Hello?” A somber Jack answered.
“Oh Jack thank God you’re
alright!” Rose collapsed on to her bed.
“I just remembered you were a couple of blocks away…”
“I’m fine Rose. I’m fine.
I should have called you to let you know, but I couldn’t get to a phone
right away. How about you? Are you ok?”
“No. It’s gone Jack. It’s
gone, and I’m scared and alone…my mother…I don’t know where she is and…” Rose
was near hysterics, all her pent-up emotions were all spilling over.
“Shhh Rose. Don’t worry, I’m on my way over. You shouldn’t be alone right now. No one should I guess. I’ll be there as soon as possible.”
“Jack?”
“Yes Rose?”
“I love you. Please drive carefully.”
“I will Rosie. And I love you too. I’ll see you soon.”
Rose hung up the phone and leaned
back on her bed, staring at the television, the shock of the tragic happenings
still with her. Her brain just couldn’t
accept what had happened. A tear rolled
down her face as she remembered that her next-door neighbor worked in the World
Trade Center. She was a nice woman that
always greeted Rose as they both headed for their destinations in the morning. In fact, they had spoken that morning…
“Hello Mrs. Winston,” Rose happily greeted, glancing up at the clear
blue sky as the other woman was unlocking her door.
“Morning
Rose. It looks like we’re going to have
beautiful weather today. The sky is so clear,”
the older woman nodded.
“It
sure does. Well you have a good day
Mrs. Winston.”
“You
do the same Rose,” Mrs. Winston waved as Rose dunked into her own car and
headed off for school, unaware of the calamic events that were about to
unravel.
Remembering that Mrs. Winston
drove a white corolla, Rose ran outside, hoping to see the car in the Winston
driveway. Her heart drops as she saw it
was missing. Sobbing uncontrollably,
Rose collapsed onto her porch and sobbed into her hands. That was how Jack found her as he came up
five minutes later.
“Rose!” He immediately went to
her and scooped her up into his arms.
“What are you doing out here?
Come on, I’ll take you inside,” He carried her into the living room and
sat her on the nearby couch. He letted
her lean into his embrace as she continued to sob.
“Mind telling me what just went on here?”
“Mrs. Winston…her car’s not
there,” Rose hid her face in his shirt.
“So?”
Rose pulled away and looked into
Jack’s concerned blue eyes. “She worked
in the World Trade Center Jack. I had
just talked to her this morning…like every morning…and now…”
“Oh Rose,” Jack pulled her back
into his arms, his heart truly going out to her. “She’ll be back Rose. She
probably got there just as it happened, giving her a chance to get out.”
“But what if she didn’t
Jack? What if…what if she’s…gone?”
Jack wiped away her tears
and kissed her forehead. “We’ll pray
for her. What do you say to that? My church isn’t very far from here. They’re holding a prayer service in another
hour. What do you say? We go there and pray?”
Rose sniffed, wiping away her
tears. “Ok. So Jack…what happened after the buildings collapse? Did you see what happened?”
“First hand,” Jack sighed, trying
to banish the awful images from his mind.
Rose took his hand, realizing
that this was her chance to be there for Jack.
This tragedy was going to be with them for a very long time.
“It was going to be a trip for my
economics class. We were going to take
a tour of World Trade Center,” Jack sighed.
“We were walking there since it was a short distance away. We were exiting the school when it
happened. We looked up at the crash and
saw the planes go into the towers. We
just stood there and watched. Stuck in
that one spot. Then…it all came
down. One minute the towers were there
and the next minute they weren’t…”
“Oh Jack,” Rose pulled him into
her arms, Thanking God that Jack wasn’t in the building. A couple minutes earlier, he could have
been. She was sure he realized that as
well. “I could have lost you.”
“But you didn’t. We never made it to the Trade Center. But we were still close enough to see it.”
“Oh Jack,” Rose sniffed. “What do you suppose will happen next?”
Jack shrugged. “War most likely. We have to have faith that our president will bring these
terrorists to justice Rose. We have to
believe that.”
“But why do they hate us
Jack? Why do they have the need to kill
themselves and others in such a horrific manner?”
Jack shrugged. “I don’t have the
answers for that one Rose. The only
thing I can think of is that they’re sick twisted people. Come on, let’s take our minds off this for a
while. Let’s turn off the TV and listen
to the radio. It’ll be time to head out
to that Memorial service soon.”
Rose just sniffed and
smiled. “Ok. I love you Jack.”
“I love you too. And don’t worry. Whoever’s responsible for this will pay. I believe that,” Jack kissed her tenderly,
taking her hand and leading her down to the entertainment room.
There's something'
happening' here
But what it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going' down
There's battle lines being drawn
And nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
A getting so much resistance from behind
It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's goin' down
What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carryin' signs
Mostly say 'hooray for our side'
It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's goin' down
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away
We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's goin'
We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's goin'
We better stop, now, what's that sound
Everybody look what's goin'
We better stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's goin' down ....
For What it’s Worth-Buffalo Springfield