My Response:
It was a morning just like any other. Alarms rang to get everyone out of bed. The cool September breeze made the kids playing outside huddle in their coats and laugh at each other. School buses ran as they always did, picking up the students to go to school. Homework was done. Friends were talking.
It was a normal morning.
The news didn’t take long to spread. Even those that avoided television in the morning, or whose parents didn’t allow, soon found out.
Laughter turned to solemn horror. Teenagers, usually intent on their own lives and whether their boyfriend was popular or not, were quiet as they took in the truth of what had happened.
Hijacked planes. Buildings on fire. Towers toppling. People dying.
It was too much for any of them to take in. How could such a thing happen in this world? Maybe not in the town they lived in. Maybe not even in their country, but they had thought that this world was safe. That they would never have to worry about any of this.
They got on with their day, as they had to. Teachers were not forgiving of students who lingered in hallways wondering how God could have allowed this to happen. They didn’t let children stare out the windows wondering if it could happen to them. If their school was next.
More than one teacher had to wipe their eyes quickly as the class filed in, but they could not allow their students to dwell on the horror. They had to be taught.
Not a thing was learned that day, though. Who could possibly care about the equation for math when the world had changed so dramatically in only a few minutes?
Once the day was done, home was not the sanctuary it normally was. Instead of the television shows that could take their minds off of this terrible event, the stations were filled with broadcasts. Videos of planes crashing into buildings. Of fires starting as debris began to fall. Of that debris starting to look sickeningly like the forms of people.
Images filled kids imaginations, of floors falling, crushing people. Of blood that would never be seen among the debris.
Tears weren’t enough to express the feelings of the world that day.
Parents, trying to protect their children, turned off the televisions. Told them to go read or do their homework. The kids weren’t fooled, though. They heard the sound when their parents turned the televisions back on.
The world was silent that night.
The next morning brought with it new stories. Images of those that had lost loved ones. Reporters digging for their stories. The kids saw it all. Drank it all in. Felt the pain and the anger. Understood that their lives would never be the same. They might not have been there, but the events of that day would echo across the world. There would not be a corner of the earth that would go untouched.
It was more than a week before stations stopped playing the same video’s on a loop. Before the world started to move on.
But the students couldn’t. They had witnessed something that no kid should ever have to witness. They had watched as the world had crumbled around them, even if it was only for a few days. They would tell the tales of that day to their kids. They would forever remember the images and videos. A sight cannot be unseen.
It was the students who remembered. Who held it close to their hearts and swore that nothing like this would ever happen again.
As always, I would love to hear what you thought of my response. Or, if you were inspired to also complete the assignment, I would love to see what you came up with. Post in the comments below.
All exercises are taken from The 3 A.M. Epiphany by Brian Kiteley
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