The Day Humanity Cried...
By: Janice R. Sager
It's not real.
It can't be real.
Oh God... it is real...
An accident...
Something hit the World Trade Center.
Can it really have been a plane?
Unbelievable.
Tragic.
Horrifying.
How could something like this happen?
...becomes an act or terror,
It wasn't an accident.
It can't have been an accident.
Not two of them.
I can't believe what I'm seeing.
They aimed for the second tower.
Hundreds are dead.
Madness.
It's not real.
It can't be real.
Oh God... it is real...
...becomes an act of war.
The Pentagon.
This can't be happening.
The skies shut down.
The borders close.
The nation reels.
The first tower falls.
It's not real.
It can't be real.
Oh God... it is real...
If I'd seen it at the movies,
I'd have scoffed at bad special effects,
at the sheer impossibility of it all.
It looked like a documentary on building demolition.
The thing came straight down.
It's not possible.
How is it possible?
The second tower falls.
It's not real.
It can't be real.
Oh God... it is real...
Thousands are dead.
Firefighters.
Secretaries.
Police officers.
Executives.
Paramedics.
Tourists.
Day care workers
Children...
It's not real.
It can't be real.
Oh God... it is real...
Another plane has gone down.
This one in a field in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania?
Too much for coincidence.
The White House?
Camp David?
Where was it aimed and what brought it down?
Congress has been evacuated.
Where will the next one hit?
It's not real.
It can't be real.
Oh God... it is real...
Baseball is canceled.
The president speaks.
Congress sings.
The world blinks.
Humanity cries.
The sleeping giant wakes.
It's not real.
It can't be real.
Oh God... it is real...
Words of war.
Words of calm.
Words of cold and certain retaliation.
Anger.
Need.
Justice.
Retribution.
The world echoes our pain.
It's not real.
It can't be real.
Oh God... it is real...
Darkness falls.
The search for survivors continues.
A child prays for her father.
A brother prays for his sister
A mother prays for her son.
A friend prays for a friend.
A stranger prays for a stranger.
Half a world away, people mourn.
Governments shudder.
Flags are lowered.
Flowers are laid.
Condolences and support are offered.
The world is outraged.
What will tomorrow bring?
It's not real.
It can't be real.
Oh God... it is real...
--
Janice