The government,
The media,
Teachers,
Parents.
All trying to comfort us.
And answer our questions.
Four days.
The number of days that the airports and the New York Stock Exchange were shut down.
Setting a record.
Six days.
Major league baseball starts back up.
The Staten Island ferry reopens.
We band together as Americans
To help fight against this terrorist attack.
The flags fly across the country to show that we are united.
A simple act that we can do to help.
The red, white and blue reinforce the fact that we are a strong nation.
A nation that will get through this difficult time together.
All the people, excluding the hijackers,
Who perished that day were innocent.
Some were there to work.
To visit a great New York City sight.
To fly.
To help.
As the dust settles,
We find out the tragic death tool.
Almost three thousand dead.
Many injured,
Physically and psychologically.
And a great nation in turmoil.
Words cannot begin to express what we are going through.
What we have just begun to experience.
We pinch ourselves many times hoping to wake up from this realistic nightmare,
But no luck.
There will be no fairy tale endings today.
Not for awhile.
With this deadly blow to the center,
The heart of the financial district,
The famous New York skyline is no longer.
The destruction forever changes its silhouette.
We look in disbelief,
As information starts hitting us.
Numerous newspapers flood us with headlines of horror.
“Second Pearl Harbor.”
“Attack on America.”
“Planes Slam Pentagon, World Trade Center.”
“Thousands Feared Dead as Hijacked Jets Used as Weapons.”
“War Of The 21st Century.”
There is a whirlwind of panic throughout the United States.
People flock to banks to get cash.
To grocery stores to stock up on food and water.
To gas stations, scared that prices will skyrocket.
Fear suffocates us,
As we try to figure out what to do and how to act.
Who do we turn to?
Family?
Friends?
Our government?
Other countries?
Who?
Questions are never ending.
Who do we blame?
Are there survivors?
Where are our loved ones?
Are we going to war?
Are we all going to die?
Are we safe?
Now what?
Why did this happen?
How could this happen to us?
To the United States of America?
Why?
We are taught in America that we are number one.
We are Invincible.
We are Untouchable.
We are Superior.
We keep on believing this until one day something unthinkable like this happens.
As the World Trade Center came crashing down so did our “reality.”
We went to bed without a care in the world
But awoke to terror on September 11, 2001.
8:45 a.m. flight #11 crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center.
9:03 a.m. flight #175 crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center.
9:43 a.m. flight #77 crashes into the Pentagon.
10:10 a.m. flight #93 crashes into a field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
It happened so quickly.
At first we think it’s a tragic accident,
But as the second plane hits we realize this is an attack on America.
In a blink of an eye our world is turned upside down.
Chaos all around, blurring our perception.
The tears came pouring down as we sat and watched.
We try to get home.
To call home.
To hear a familiar voice.
To reach loved ones in some way.
Anything calming that will help.
We don’t want to be alone at this time.
As the fires burn so does the anger in the heart of Americans.
In an instant our lives and our future are changed forever,
Along with our sense of security.
We feel helpless as we sit and watch images of this tragedy.
Picture after picture of the destruction caused by the planes.
The images are a bad movie forever burned into our memories.
Confusion.
Chaos.
Grief.
Worry.
Shock.
Emotions running wild.