9/11 Short Stories

Obtrusively,the thunder bellowed outside and the roaring sound filled the small room like rock music to a broken soul.Amongst the thunder, raindrops could be seen ebbing down the windowsill forming undecipherable miniscule shapes and later sinking down in the wall to gather at the edge.

The wind twirled around the columns, engulfing the girl standing in the center. Her hands raised as she looked to the open ceiling. She swayed with the wind, letting it push her and guide her.

Now far enough away from the night club opening, Jessie could hear the distinct sound of a woman screaming. The heart wrenching sound made her stop mid step. Cold terror washed over her as she neared the corner of the alley and peered around it. There were distinct shapes - someone on the ground writhing in pain, one cowering against the wall, and three that approached her. She heard the poor woman crying out for help and saw one of the advancing shadows reach a hand up to strike her across the face. Nausea broiled in the put of her stomach and Jessie took a cautious step in. For a moment she weighed her options - trying to decide what to do. Did she fight or did she fly? Whatever - or rather whoever she thought she saw obviously wasn't real. There was no Superman. But this woman still needed help. Jessie clung to her phone as though it was a bludgeoning weapon and dialed 911. She took a step forward - about to call out to the attackers - when another shadow landed in front of her.

I stretch out on my white cotton bed sheets and yawn uncontrollably. Last night was unreal. I don't really remember anything that happened. I know I was with Angelina and Tara for most of the night. And then I was with Dustin. I didn't want to think right now, I wanted to sleep. But there was no way I could stay in bed any longer. I have to wake up early, even on weekends. It's some sort of "being productive" bullshit. Also I need something for this hangover, so I pull myself out of bed and walk to the bathroom.

“Mom?” Veronica gasped, and realized how little the woman huddled over her drink looked like the woman in the photograph, but it was definitely her mother. Her mother who’d been drunk for probably months, sleeping in her car and crashing on friends’ couches, looked so little like her mother who’d tucked her in before bed years ago, and made her breakfast in the morning. “Mom?” Ignoring tears in her eyes, Veronica tried to get her mom’s attention, to get her eyes to focus on her only.

Darkness would always cover the forbidden town just passed the river bank. It was blocked off from the village next over. The village, in which one particular boy lived out a lonely life. On this night, he decided to embark on an adventure that would change his life. No one was to ever set foot in his town if they want to stay alive, for there was killer on the lose. And in this town no one was safe not even the dead.

“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

“Can’t worry about that now,” Grace replied. “We have to run before the cops get here. Come on!”

The blinding light coming from the outside poured into me. I grabbed the air reaching for water just like looking for an oasis in a desert. My eyes, yawned by the sun poking into my eyes and I realized that I was back in my house; my old jacketed

On the night of a full moon Jack was wide awake, thinking about the one thing he was scared of. The thing he was scared of was monsters. Then Jack heard a noise. A big hand reached in and grabbed Jack! He just managed to get a grasp of his glasses, but still he couldn’t make out anything. The monster took huge steps towards the dark and scary woods. They went right through the woods into a whole new world. He’d never been fully through the woods and this looked like a scary journey ahead of them.

As soon as Day opened the door smoke billowed in. She quickly adjusted her mask and closed the door. The smoke covered everything like a thick blanket. For a while the sun and the smoke had fought, but eventually the sun had succumbed to the smoke, like everything else. The only light now was electrical, but unlike the sun they weren’t bright and happy. The lights held no warmth and instead seemed to make the world colder. It hadn’t changed overnight. It was the same cold and dismal place. Day started towards the market. People scarcely walked the streets and instead rode in Machines. The machines had made the world like this, if you could even call it a world.

The fireworks had just ended leaving large smoke clouds in the sky, and the large swarms of people made there way to the front gate. Lauren reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone to check the time. She clicked the lock button on the side a few times before realizing I had died. She sighed heavily knowing she had probably missed Camila’s good night text. Something they had done every night around the same time for the last 4 years.

When I woke up, I almost drowned by the smell hand sanitizer around me. I looked and I was surrounded by doctors. “Hello Ms. Lopez, I am Doctor Rupert,” he announced.

“Hello? I'm trying to talk to you, Jayme. Get your head out of your butt and listen to your mother.” she said, as she walked out of the room. I then turn in her direction. I see, in her hand, another bottle, empty.

As I heard Mom’s feet thumping against the wood floor go away, I opened the door and stuck my head out in all directions. The coast was clear. I stood there eyeing down the suitcase for the next 10 minutes. I wasn’t giving up this fight, but I still took the stupid suitcase into my room.