Heather Frequency

Steadfast
2003-01-12 20:36:31 (UTC)

September 11, 2001

The clock, yellowed with age, ticks above my right
ear. 7:58 a.m. The sound of chalk grazing the face of the
blackboard echoes throughout the classroom, along with the
rustling and shuffling of homework papers and squeaking of
new tennis shoes on green tile.
My head lays on my right arm, and my eyes flutter open
and closed like butterfly wings while I try to stay awake
in mathematics class. Normal, everyday thoughts race
through my brain. Why must we have class so early in the
morning? Did I do my homework? Do I have to work tonight?
The chalk etches away, letters and numbers and
equations spilling over the board. After scrawling the
date, the chalk comes to a halt. A chuckle escapes the
instructor's lips. She amused at the date - 9-11.
"Did anyone notice what the date today is?" she asks
the class. "It's 911." she thinks nothing of it and
proceeds to assign homework. I lay my head back down and
doze.
Moments later, a fuzzy crackling sound emerges from
the intercom box. To a static backgrond, the deep voice of
the principal announces, "The United States has been
declared in a state of emergency. Two aircraft have just
crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in
New York City, and one into the Pentagon."




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