The day started out like any other. I was just sitting down to enjoy my morning coffee and begin my daily routine when I heard a very disturbing sound. It resembled an explosion, but I thought that was impossible. I leapt from my desk to see what had happened and I stood in horror as I watched the top floors of the North Tower be swallowed up by flames. My disbelief at the raging inferno soon turned into utter, complete fear. The supervisor of the floor entered the room and explained to us that we should remain calm and that an airliner had crashed into the other tower. He also instructed us to return to our desks and continue working because it was probably an accident and we didn't want to create unnecessary hysteria. Normalcy was near impossible to achieve because our hearts and prayers were with the people in the other building. Although I was filled with astonishment and confusion, one thing I knew was I couldn’t just go back to work like nothing had happened. So a few friends/colleagues of mine decided that we would just head home for the day. We walked to the elevator, but it was under repair so we entered the staircase and made our way down. No more than five minutes later, a bang came down the core of the South Tower. It felt like an earthquake that nearly sent me flying down a flight of stairs, however, I was able to grab hold of the railing before I fell. My good friend Tom was tossed down two flights of stairs and was lost from my view. I regained my balance and frantically rushed down the stairs to find him with my other coworkers Fred and David. We feared the worst and were aghast to find Tom lying lifelessly on the floor. It was not until I checked for a pulse that I realized he had landed on his head and broken his neck. I can’t put into words how I felt at that moment, all I can say is that I shed no tears because it stilled seemed like it was just a bad dream. In one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make, we left our friend lying there on the floor. That was the last time I ever saw Tom, but not a night goes by that I am not haunted by the memory of that horrifying day.

After we saw that he was dead, the doors to the staircase flew open on every level and people piled out like a giant wave in the ocean. We were swept into the sea of frantic faces and forced down the stairs. Luckily, we were moving rather quickly to my surprise, but all I remember was that for every person going down the stairs, there was a fireman going up the stairs. My heart was racing and my body was shaking uncontrollably. All I could think about was Tom and how I might I end up like him. Also, I thought about my family and how I hoped they knew how much they meant to me and how much I loved them.

Time was lost to me as we ran down from floor after floor. I was waiting to see the light of day. Suddenly, my first glimpse of hope was a police officer pointing to us the direction we should go. There was more space now so we all began to run never looking back. I lost sight of Fred and David in all the chaos, but something inside just told me to keep running. I finally made my way to the street and for the first time I saw what the plane had done to the South Tower. I stared at the burning Goliaths and it was like watching a movie. The surreal scene quickly became threatening when the South Tower began to give way and come crashing down. I was already a pretty safe distance away, but I ran anyway, only to be engulfed by smog thick enough to block out the sun. As the smoke slowly dissipated, the only thing that remained were two large piles of debris that were once major symbols of the American economy.

This was a day that I would never wish upon another person. Sometimes I find myself wondering why I survived when so many others died. Is there some reason for my survival, some purpose to my life that I have not yet realized? I have devoted myself to aiding the workers who are cleaning up this terrible disaster and trying to return out society to normal. Yet, our country will never be the same again. We must all come together in support of our nation in its time of need. The enemy must be defeated. America must prevail. Justice must be served. For we must remember “United We Stand, Divided We Fall.”

By BM age 17