In this piece, a seventh-grade student imagines a nightmarish repeat of the events of September 11, 2001. This is our first piece published in 2015 that is set in the future.
Another
9/11
SEPTEMBER
10, 2020
Its 3:30 P.M. and the bell rings.
"Congratulations to the special
winner of my red, white, and blue Luncheon," says Mrs. Claremont.
"Tomorrow, you and three friends get to have lunch with me in the teachers
lounge."
I turn to my best friend Jess, who sits across the room, and
roll my eyes. What student would want to have a special luncheon with Mrs.
Claremont?
"Haven Daniels! Do not roll
your eyes! This lucky winner won this luncheon because they looked the most
patriotic."
I guess she saw me. Oops.
Mrs. Claremont continues, "They
looked the most patriotic by wearing red, white, and blue in honor of September
11th! " Mrs. Claremont exclaims. "Class dismissed."
10
MINUTES LATER
Jess and I meet in the run down
parking lot of our high school, Los Angeles Smith Mount High. We get into her
old, junky Volvo. Gross. It smells like In 'n Out Burger.
"What do you want to do
now?" Jess asks me, "We finished all of our homework in study hall.
There's nothing left for us to do."
I think about what we should do. I loved the last time we went downtown.
Maybe we should go again? I answer her as soon I as I finish my thought.
"Lets go downtown!" I
shout excitedly, "We can grab something to eat and update our closets in
the process, so it all works out."
Jess answers me. "Sure," she says, "buckle
up!"
35
MINUTES LATER
"Wake up," Jess says,
"We have arrived at our destination."
She giggles at her own joke. I guess
I was so tired I didn't even realize I had fallen asleep. I rub the sleep out
of my eyes and untangle myself from the torn up seatbelt. Jess is parked in
front of the Smith Mount Shopping Center. I suggest that we should limit our
locations to these: Aeropostale, American Eagle, Converse Factory Outlet, and
Starbucks.
"I don’t think we should go to all
of the stores," Jess remarks.
Why does she always have to be such a bore? She opens and closes her mouth a
couple times like she wants to say something. She finally does.
"You know what, let's do
it!" Jess shouts.
2
HOURS LATER
Just as we are about to step out of
Starbucks, we feel a deep, violent rumble. Then I hear a big explosion and
screams.
"What was that?" I ask Jess inquisitively.
"Probably just some technical
difficulty at the construction site across the street," she replies,
"Probably scared some people."
That didn't really sound like
technical difficulties.
Right then, a man comes bolting past Jess as fast as a gazelle, bumping into
her and making her spill her Starbucks drink. I realize he had a frightened
look on his face. Maybe something really is going on.
"Hey! Watch where you're
going!" Jess shouts after the man.
I try to get Jess to keep walking
but she refuses.
"Aww man, look what he
did," Jess whines, "He made me spill my drink my new sweater!"
I don’t really see the big deal. She
can just wash it when she gets home. All of a sudden I hear a low whine that gets louder and
louder by the second. Then, something strikes the side of the building with a
boom. There is another great explosion and a big blast of scalding heat. It is
so hot; it singes all the hair off my arms. I search through screaming crowd
for Jess.It sends me and my bags of clothing flying backwards. I hit my head on
the hard marble with a smack. I struggle to stand myself up so I can run to
Jess. All I can hear are screams drowning out more and more screams.
I see Jess
get hit in the stomach with a sharp piece of debris. "Jess!" I
scream. I sprint in her direction. As I am running I hear a crack coming from
above my head. I stop running and look up just in time to see a small piece of
debris falling from the roof. I am hit in the back of my head from the debris
and I fall to the ground. Then everything goes black.
1 HOUR LATER
I wake up, and I am in the back of
an ambulance. What's going on? I can't see at the moment; everything is
so blurry. All I can hear are the sounds of sirens. I suddenly remember
everything so quickly; it makes my head hurt. Wait! Where's Jess?!
"Jess!" I exclaim out
loud.
"Who's Jess?" the EMT questions.
"My best friend! She was in
there with me!"
He replies in a worried tone, "What does she look
like?"
Where is Jess? I could never live my life without her.
"She is 5'6", has straight
dark brown hair, and has brown eyes."
The EMT nods and starts talking into his radio asking if
anyone had seen her.
I quickly add, "She was wearing
a white sweater from American Eagle."
He nods again and repeats what I said into his radio. I can't
hear what the response is, but I know by the EMT's expression it must not be
good. My stomach drops. He tells me what he heard.
"We found her before you, and
she was in critical condition."
I start to feel tears. Please, oh, please make the
rest of this good news.
"She had a shard of glass stuck
deep in her stomach. She was already bleeding a lot and we knew that if we took
it out she would die of blood loss."
Please let her be all right. The EMT continues.
"We took at chance at removing
it, but we lost her. I'm so sorry."
I just lie there. I don’t move. I
don't accept his apology. I don’t even blink. I feel like my lungs have run out
of air, but I'm still breathing. I just start to cry. So many tears pour out of
my eyes; it is like a flood. I cry and cry; I cry so hard that everything goes
black again.
THE
NEXT DAY
I wake up the next day with the
bright sun shining in my face. I try to move my arms to fix my bed head, but
excruciating pain shoots through my whole body.
I have an ice pack on the table next to me. Hurray! The ice pack has
saved the day! I reach to grab it. The pain to get the ice is worth the
relief. My heart is heavy from the loss of my best friend, but I will survive.
She would want me to live my life with or without her.
I turn my head to the television to
notice that the news is covering last nights events. I reach over to grab the
remote. I grimace as the pain shoots up
my shoulder and to my fingertips. The news reporter gets louder as I turn up
the volume.
"Many highly populated areas
were fired upon last night," the reporter states, "Smith Mount
Shopping Center was struck the hardest and had the most injuries and
fatalities."
Who is doing this?
As the news reporter continues she answers my question.
"The terrorist group ISIS were
the ones committing these acts of terror. Many people thought that they
would attack years ago, but they have selected the anniversary of the last
September 11th to do so."
I guess I was always prepared for
the idea of hearing of another terrorist attack. I just never thought that I
would be the one experiencing it. There should be no terrorist attacks though.
This is America in 2020! We should feel safe and secure. Surely they can stop
this group before another 9/11.
by Trinity E.
Grade 7
 |
artwork by Christian R.
Grade 7 |
