9/11 [June 2014]

He withdrew from slumber as the soft caress of her hand ran along his chiseled chest, drawing him to open his eyes and look beside him. He smiled mischievously.

"Are the kids still in bed?"

"It's 6am. Haven't heard them stir yet."

"MMM. I have to be at the station house by 8. What did you have in mind?"

"How about...."

There was a brief rustle under the covers, and soon he found himself lost in an embrace that lasted until the time of his release. He sighed.

She smiled at him, kissing him gently. "I love you. Even more than when we first got married. Now go put out some fires."

He expected a normal day at work, cleaning the engines and polishing the chrome on the trucks, but when the TV showed the plane hitting, the alarms sounded, and all hell broke loose. He was one of the first on the scene, and ran into the burning tower to help evacuate the people pouring out.

Looking up as he arrived on the scene, he saw with horror the burning. This is not good he thought. This is insanity. Without pause, he ran inside.

And he heard the second explosion. He kept working, fighting against time, climbing higher in the stairwells, checking floors, coordinating on the radio the "all clear".

A half hour passed, and he found himself on the thirtieth floor, still directing people to the stairwells and to safety. Clearing rooms, saving lives, his only thought. Another fifteen minutes and he had cleared thirty five floors. The radio told him about the second plane, but he knew where his focus was, and that was to get everyone out.

He was on the fortieth floor, and called in an "all clear", when he felt it. A vibration, a subtle rumbling he couldn't immediately place.

His radio told him what he didn't want to hear, that the building was collapsing. Impossible, he thought, as his thoughts entered a surreal zone and he collapsed sitting on the floor, tears welling up, thinking about how much he was going to miss his wife and kids.

His tears lasted for seven more seconds, then he was gone.

To the firefighters that sacrificed their lives on 9/11, we will always remember you.

Nice one dude.
I liked it. Sounds as if it was from a first hand account.

From one dog to the next.

Very good...

Thanks for the reminder that those were real people with real lives. So many lives were changed for the worse that day.

a reply to: Druid42

Nicely done my friend.

As always, brutal, blunt and to the point. Very well written.

S&F from me. It's good to see you on the boards again btw.

a reply to: 74Templar

I never left, just went into lurk mode for a while.

Since the stein/stain incident, I've been thinking about changing that.

a reply to: Druid42

Wow, Druid...I could have kept reading more!
It's truly sad to think that all those people had their own individual lives and families...and that day could be told from so many different perspectives.
Glad you're out of 'lurker mode'...writers gotta write!

It's funny that you mentioned the 'stein/stain' incident. It has certainly got a lot of us thinking lately.
I will be looking for more from you.

jacy-stein