THESE ARE THE TIMES
Chapter Fifteen
Jack and Rose had been together
for six months now. They were both seniors in high school and were 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 a thousand and one times. It was so
unreal. She could swear that if she closed her eyes really hard, she’d wake up
and find it was all a horrible dream. Four planes had never been 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 World Trade Center was no more. Instead, it was a giant pile of rubble. No
one would ever recognize it as the gorgeous structure it once was.
She just hoped that no one she
knew had been hurt, killed, or was missing. She prayed that everyone had made
it out okay. Jack! Titan High School was just a couple of blocks away from the
World 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
all right!" Rose collapsed onto her bed. "I just remembered that you
are 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 okay?"
"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 spilling over.
"Shh, 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 at the World
Trade Center. She was a nice woman who 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
woman was unlocking her door.
"Morning, Rose. It looks
like we’re going to have beautiful weather today. The sky is so clear."
The woman nodded.
"It sure does. Well, you
have a good day, Mrs. Winston."
"You do the same,
Rose." Mrs. Winston waved as Rose ducked into her own car and headed off
to school, unaware of the cataclysmic 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 dropped as she saw that it was missing. Sobbing
uncontrollably, Rose collapsed on 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 let 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 at the World Trade Center, Jack. I
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. "Okay. So, Jack…what happened after the buildings collapsed? Did
you see what happened?"
"Firsthand." 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 hadn’t been in the building. A couple
of 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 World 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.
"Okay. 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
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
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind
It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down.
What a field day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly saying hooray for our side
It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down.
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
Step out of line, the man come and take you away
We’d better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
We better stop, now, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
We better stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down…