9/11 Short Stories

As I looked up, the sky was dark the sidewalk illuminated by the streetlights. The sound of crickets and cars echoing through my ears. I walked home that night, tears in my eyes. I was leaving, I couldn’t handle it anymore. The meds, doctors, psychiatrists nothing was working, our lives were in constant danger. By the time I got home the car was gone. By the time, I finished packing it was dawn. The sun creeping in through the shutters. For the next couple of days, I crashed at Jason’s before I headed South. I heard my cell ringing, it was mom… I let it go to voicemail.

I awoke to a cacophony of screams, both of excitement and of pain. I jolted up quickly, unable to control my own muscles or vocal chords, as if a spectre was holding me back with airy fingers of death.

The oldest residents of the hospital basement were the spiders and their webs, a clear sign that no one else's footsteps had echoed within these walls for years. Maya's eyes darted around in concern not wanting to get in trouble for the third time this month. She glanced towards Ash who held the torch shining it onto old files of older patients buried just outside the centre. The smell of rotting wood and metal hung in the air, a pile of blood covered sheets tossed in the corner.

“Why am I here? What happened to me? Who am I?” Everything was happening so fast, It felt like i couldn't breathe. I began to cry.

I open my eyes and the first thing I notice besides the fact that I’m not in my room was the giant pile of shattered glass. I look away from the pile of glass and see a large group of tents and at least ten campfires. Instinctively I get up and start walking towards the tents. All of a sudden a strangely dressed man appears in front of me in a puff of smoke. I fall on my butt out of sheer shock.

It was around noon when Leah finally decided to walk into the kitchen. She wasn’t expecting a warm welcome, but she wasn’t prepared for the ice-cold reception the guys gave her, Thor and Bruce practically bolted out of the room without even acknowledging her presence. Tony gave a hurried excuse about having to check some lab results and Clint said he needed to train. The only one who didn’t leave was Steve, who remained sitting on a stool at the kitchen bar.

Scanning the darkness from left to right, seeing near where he stood, he first took in the main counter, seeing it being configured as an “L” shape. He then looked through its transparent fronts, seeing the remains of small and empty displays. Even through the dimness brought by the open door, he could tell their whiteness was dust covered. His eyes lifted, looking beyond the main counter, and then scanned slightly right. Seeing further into the depth of the room, and on its other side, sat a set of two counters travelling the far wall. Both, butted end-to-end, they led to a back area he could not fully see. He assumed that was where the back entryway was and where the killer entered.

“Madeline,” I hear through my endless solitude. It was quiet enough that I could have imagined it. I must have wanted to hear it so bad that I thought it was there. Thwarted by my realization, I close my eyes and try to fall asleep. “Madeline” it says again. I open my eyes to find that same sunny ceiling, in an entirely empty room. “Madeline.” It

The sun shone against the grass. Zack blinked slowly. The wind blew against his ears, and he looked at his hands. Small, petite. He sighed softly, and heard piano from the distance. Next to him, was a silhouette of a much older man. He sat next to Zack, and placed his hand on Zack’s head. He rubbed his hair, and mouthed a few words to him. Zack attempted to understand what he said. He picked Zack up and placed him on his lap. He spoke something to him, and placed his hands on Zack’s shoulders.

Raindrops ran down the window pane, creating streaks of water on the glass. A lightning bolt struck lazily, and a quiet roll of thunder followed. Fragile clouds let loose a few rays of sun, illuminating small parts of the city. The woman lounging in the window seat languidly drew a few finishing strokes on a piece of paper, then set the sketch aside, allowing her eyes to roam to the outside. She rubbed them gently, blinking out the dreariness that came with stormy days. No balloons today, she thought with disappointment. They were beautiful with their bright colors and elaborate designs.

She looked at the child, safely in her arms, breathing steadily. She looked at the man, then turned her head at the semi. The semi woman had no chance. She cared for the child, even when it ended her own life. She cradled the child in her arms, quietly praying that he didn’t what had become of his mother. She didn’t know that the child was hanging onto her arm, sobbing into her sleeve. The warm, wet tears on her shirt had brought something out of her. She broke down in the middle of the road. She cried into the bright blue coat of the little boy. He was tightly holding his Teddy bear when she had grabbed him, but when she looked down, he was no longer in possession of such an innocent creature. He dropped it when she had set him on the ground. She stood up, looked at the burning car and semi, and realized that she had saved a person, but she was mostly proud at the fact that she had saved a child, no older than eight years. The police took her, the man, and the child into custody. She walked to the ambulance with the help of an officer. The girl had been silent from the moment that she had put her earbuds in. She hadn’t spoken a single word. Not a single

It was a dark and stormy night with the rain pelting the window. A sharp, loud crack of thunder had just woken Artemis. Throwing back the covers on her bed she got up and walked over to the bay window. Sitting down on the plush cushion she rested her head against the cool glass. Out of nowhere a bright streak of red light flashed by followed by a crash big enough to shake the house. As she was staring at the huge boulder on the edge of the woods, she began to notice more streaking through the sky. One... two.. three.four she counted before they began racing by so fast that they were impossible to count.

Nessa had managed to stay under the radar of the law for almost a month. Then Jessie popped up at the Dungeon to pick up a package one night. She lit a cigarette and began to pace the Dungeon floors when he arrived.

There was a blanket of darkness in the room; as if someone had woven the sky into a dark cloth and spread it over the room. It was cold. Colder than the frostbite slowly inching up Robert Peary’s leg. An icy blue flame was flickering above the wick of a well-used candle. The misty shade of purple from the curtains filled the room with a bleak atmosphere. On top of a wooden drinks cabinet sat a wireless whispering in the background of the room.

“Your grandfather didn’t just die Faith, he was murdered. My father put rat poison in his wine that night that our families got together for a dance. I tried so hard to stop him but he locked me up in my room so I couldn’t.” Embry had a shaky voice and a loud cry now. My head swarmed with terrible thoughts that I couldn’t get out of my head. My whole family thought he died of a heart attack. What if my parents really knew the truth and weren’t telling me? Why is Embry going for me and not anybody else? I collapsed to the ground. Lily immediately ran out from the popcorn cart and held me tight. It felt like my world was coming to an end. Embry kept apologizing like it was all her fault.