Fallen Brothers

A Story by Bethany_Savy

My mom was in Saint Louis helping a family friend of ours named Michelle. Her son, Jack was getting spinal surgery. Since my mom is a nurse she felt that it was only right for her to go with them. Jack’s surgery went well and Michelle told my mom that she could head home early. My mom was reluctant at first but decided that it was a good idea to come back home.

While she was in the airport, my mom saw some sketchy things going on. There were two Middle Eastern men communicating by touching themselves. Not like sign language. They would tap their ear then shoulder. They were sitting far apart. My mom was terrified when she got on the plane. She didn’t know what to do.

She made it home safely and told us about what she had seen. My dad told her that she was probably just nervous about flying. My mom hates flying especially by herself. This was September 10, 2001.

The next day, started out as any other ordinary day. The sky was blue, the clearest blue that was ever seen. There were no clouds in the sky. Not even one. All of the birds were singing in harmonies. There was a faint breeze just enough to make the tree branches sway back and forth. The planes seemed to be dancing in the sky. It should have been the most beautiful day ever. Until the end of the world started.

You could see the smoke from miles and miles away. The sky was no longer blue. The birds were frantically chirping and squawking. Even they knew that something was wrong. The faint breeze now felt like a violent wind, pushing helpless people away from safety. The planes were all told to land on the ground. Never in my life had I seen such a blaze. Never in my life had I hated gravity so much.

I was only five years old that day but I remember it like it was yesterday. I almost lost many family members. We were the lucky ones though. Others weren’t. Even the lucky ones like us were heart broken. That was my favorite city in the whole world. Now it was attacked.

The plane hit exactly where Uncle Peter’s office was. It went right in through his office window. He was sometimes lazy about going into work. We hoped that this was one of those times but we didn’t know what to think. Was no news good news? Or was news a bad thing? We just wanted to know if he was safe.

Even though we were in Ohio, I swear I felt the ground shake. I felt the earth tremble, as hundreds of people were brought down to their knees to surrender. They didn’t have a choice. The first brother had fallen.

We stared in awe at the television. We heard desperate cries for help. We then saw people running from the dust and debris. In that crowd, we saw many cousins, aunts and uncles. Then there was static. We wondered if we had just seen the lives of our family members end.

The smoke didn’t even have time to clear when the ground started to shake again. The younger brother then surrendered. You could hear the silence in the air. You could cut the tension with a knife. What had just happened? Then the phone rang.

My mom answered. It was my dad. He was at work. I couldn’t hear what he was saying but mom kept saying “Find Peter! Find Peter!” She hung up the phone and just held me and cried. My Aunt Maria called next. She told my mom that she didn’t know where Uncle Peter was. That was scary. The two of them were best friends. They told each other everything.

The announcement came that it was a terrorist attack. I didn’t understand what that meant. What were terrorists? Why would they knock down buildings and kill innocent people? Why did they hate? My mom then gasped and started crying. She said “I know them”. Two of the people’s pictures that they showed for being behind the attack were the same two men from the airport. I asked her if she was sure. She said to me “never have I ever seen so much hatred in someone’s eyes. There was a certain form of darkness about them”. She didn't have to say anything; I knew that she blamed herself. That’s a quality the two of us shared. What was she supposed to do at the airport though? How could TSA have proven them to be terrorists? There was no way to have stopped this.

The phone rang. It was our Aunt Betty, she told us that their whole family was safe and that they were calling everybody they knew to let them know. Aunt Betty said that she was on a bus when it happened. She saw it all happen. The first plane hit, the second plane hit and both brothers fall. She made the driver turn the bus around and drive as fast as he could to get them to safety. She was home safe with her family. We were happy to hear that but were still worried about everyone else especially Peter.

I can’t quite recall how long it took until we got the call. I answered the phone. My Uncle Peter was on the other side of the phone. He was safe. He said that he watched all of the events happen from the comfort of his own home. He was safe.

We then learned that everyone was safe. Having many friends and family in New York City, working EMS, and working as firemen was never so scary. We were very fortunate. To all the families out there that weren't though, my heart goes out to you, all of you. You all have been in my thoughts and prayers for the past 12 years. Stay strong and stay untied.