7 Days

A Story by Chris T.

A fictional account of a horrific event in the style of "discovered documents".

A message from the editor:

First, let me start by saying I am humbled by your interest in the material you are about to read. I first discovered this manuscript working with an epidemiology team outside of the city of Westfield. We were sorting through personal belongings that were quarantined after the event and were fortunate enough to discover this pile of papers at the bottom of a child’s toy chest. It was bizarre at the time finding something so tragic within a chest that once was associated with child-like exuberance. At first glance, my team wasn’t sure what we were looking at, but I knew we possessed something important. The author’s words were scrawled with an earnest that could only have come from a genuine first-hand account of the events. It didn’t dawn on me just how important the words were until I pieced together what happened over those fateful seven days. While his words may not shed light on why Westfield was targeted, it creates a vivid picture that I hope will not soon be forgotten about what occurred.

I have searched tirelessly to identify the individual who provided this record, but all I have been able to come up with is his first name; David. My team searched relentless for tax records, property files, and every other sort of document that could be used in identifying him, but we were unable to procure even a single document about the people that lived within Westfield before this tragic week. It almost seemed like there was no one living in the city in the first place. The original copy of David’s account was somewhat difficult to read, so I took some minor liberties in cleaning up sentences and organizing paragraphs in a more logical fashion.

David also wrote with a certain author’s bravado, but I felt his words should remain unadulterated despite his embellishments. However, I preserved the integrity of his original work by maintaining the letter-like fashion of each account. I believe the world has yet to fully comprehend the horrors of these events, and by assembling David’s records into a chronological piece, perhaps we might be able to shed some much needed light on this tragic period in human history.

Again, thank you for taking the time to read David’s manuscript. I hope it captures your heart and mind the same way it did mine.

Sincerely,

Marshall Whit
01/08/2012