9/11 ~ A Story of a Daughter -by Columbia

I woke up on the 11th of September, 2001. Out my bedroom window, a blue sky kissed the New York skyline. I danced happily over to my mom's room.

"Mom, can I go to the dance?" I asked. I sat waiting for her response. Hopefully it was a response I wanted to hear.

"You're not going to the dance," my mom said, anger in her voice.
It wasn't the response I wanted to hear. "But why?" I screamed, stomping my foot with indignation.
"I need to go to work, and there is no one to pick you up and bring you home," my mom explained. She just looked at me; she must have just assumed I knew her schedule.
I couldn't believe she wouldn't at least offer to call my aunt to see if she could pick me up. So instead I just mentioned it to her myself. "Auntie can pick me up," I ordered, stomping my foot again.
"No!! She has her own life," my mom remarked glaring at me.

"Ah, I hate you," I whispered under my breath.

"Excuse me," my mom said, twice as angry as when I first sassed her.

"You heard me!"I remarked very annoyed. I walked off, anger in my body just waiting to jump out as soon as she left.

"I'm going to work," my mom said hoping for a reconcilitory remark like, I love you, Mom, but of course, that wasn't the answer she got.
"Well I don't really care," I replied in relief. Finally, she was gone. I don't have to listen to her. All she ever says is N-O,no!





Free of my mother, free of everthing. I danced over to the T.V. "Ah," I sighed. "I wonder what's happening on the news." It was 8:45 in the morning, and I was so tired because I didn't sleep very well. That night before I had an feeling in my stomach that something terrible was going to happen. There was the same old news. "This is boring. I wonder what's on the reality shows?" Right as I went to change the channel...




BOOM!




A plane had hit North Tower. At first I thought to myself, This is just a commercial. There is no way this is true. But as I kept flipping through the channels, the same scene was on almost every channel. I realized, This is real, but how could it be? What did we do to deserve this? Who would attack NYC? I kept watching for a while longer. "So much for the boring news. This is definitely not boring. This is a big problem...I bet school will be closed!" At that moment I realized my mom and my two aunts worked in that building. I was frozen in disbelief.
"NOOOO!" I screamed. Questions shot through my head. I felt like I had been shot by a 50 caliber gun. "Why, Why?" Why did this have to happen to my mom? Why did it have to happen on the day we got in a fight? What if they didn't get out of the building in time? I had to trust the fireman would get all my family out alive or I would go insane. I just sat hoping and praying they weren't hurt too badly.

It was 9:00 a.m in the morning, and I knew I would always regret everything I had said to my mom an hour earlier.




After waiting for what seemed hours, I called my mom's cell phone. There was no answer. I called and called, but still she did not answer. I called again, and left my 10th message on her voice mail. "Ah," I said, sweat dripping from my face in fear. "MOM! I love you so, so much." I promised. "I am so sorry about this morning. I never want to get in a fight again." I hung up and instantly pushed redial.

Ring...Ring....Ring... Then my phone disconnected. All the circuits were busy.

"Answer. Come on, please answer!" I begged as tears streamed down my face. What would I do without my mother? I knew I couldn't just wait there, I needed to go and try to find her. I grabbed my phone and ran out the door.




I ran toward the Twin Towers, but I was stopped by the policemen. I looked toward what used to be the Twin Towers. Nothing. There was nothing there; it was all gone. In disbeliefe, I dashed over to the cops. "My Mom! My Mom!" I yelled. "She is in the building."

"What is her name?" the cop asked with doubt in his voice.
"Her name is Susan...Susan," I explained.
He shook his head and turned around. At that very moment, my mom emerged from the dust in a firefighter's arms. My aunt limped next to them. I ran to them. When I got over to her, about five inches of her top leg bone was sticking through her skin. My mom's hand was black and blue. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The firefighter loaded her up into the ambulance. My aunt grabbed my hand and we jumped up into the back of the ambulance. Tears were streaming down our faces.
As we were on the ride to the hospital, I held my mom's hand. I was praying and hoping that everything would be okay. I whispered into her ear, "I'm sorry. I love you. Please, please be OK."
We arrived at the hospital; they rushed her to the emergency room. There were a lot of nurses all around; it felt creepy because then the doctor started to take her away. I wanted to go with them, but the doctor wouldn't let me. He said, "We need to do an MRI." I sat in the waiting room next to my aunt. I was really nervous because I didn't want her to die. I was shocked because I never thought this would happen to my mom. Crying, I told my aunt about our fight, she told me it would be alright.
When they finished doing a MRI, the doctor called me in and said I could stay with her. That night I slept in the rocking chair. I woke up, and my mom was awake in her hospital bed. I walked over to her bed and said, "How are you feeling, Mom?"
"I am OK,"my mom answered weakly. I grabbed her hand. I knew in my heart I had changed. I looked at my mom; a single tear trickled down my face. She smiled. She knew that we were going to be different, better than we had been in the past. September 11, 2001 reminded us that our love for each other was more important than anything.

The End!
by ~ Columbia