9/11 The Horror Story

by Trish Hubschman

That morning started out like any other. I rolled out of bed and went to work. I clocked in on my computer at eight. Before digging into the pile of papers on my desk that I had to enter on the computer, I walked down to the other end of the office to ask my friend, Valerie, if she’d could make a phone call for me.

“Sure,” she replied. “It’s too early now. Come back around ten.” I thanked her and went back to my desk and got busy with my work. I don’t know what time it was, but I heard two women chattering by my desk. I found it disruptive and annoying and was going to say something to them. Instead, I simply stopped working and tried to listen in, but couldn’t catch what they were saying. It didn’t matter. It was time to go back to Valerie’s desk for her to call my doctor’s office.

There were people standing around her desk, chattering with her too. “What’s going on?” I asked. She looked up and, I’m not sure how to explain the expression on her face, but it made me jump. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

“A plane just hit the World Trade Center,” she said. “The phones are all down.”

What was she talking about? I didn’t understand. “How could an airplane have done that?”

“Nobody knows yet,” she said. “One building’s collapsed and the other’s on fire.”

I sucked in my breath. “I better go talk to my supervisor.” And I ran back to my section to ask Ed to explain this. His face was as grim as Valerie’s was. He told me that the authorities thought some bad people had intentionally flown the planes into the Towers. I was crying heavily. He told me to go back to my desk and he’d let me know if the office was closing early because of this.

It did. We were told to go home around noon. How was I going to get home? The phones were down and I couldn’t call my husband to ask him to come get me. I raced back down to Valerie’s desk. She said she’d give me a ride home. It was on her way. We didn’t say much in the car. We were both too much in shock.

When we reached my house, I thanked her and got out of the car. Kevin’s car was in the driveway. He was home. I was relieved! I raced inside.… He was in the upstairs bedroom. “Have you seen the news?” he asked. He was crying. I nodded. I still didn’t understand how this could happen or why. “I’ve been watching the news clips and people were jumping out windows.” His hysteria was growing. I watched the news too and couldn’t stop crying. I joined in a moment of silence every day at my office and prayed for those who died in the attacks.

We found out some personal things later. Kevin’s brother, who worked in the World Financial Center next to the World Trade Center, had to race down thirty-six flights of stairs. His building collapsed. His wife’s brother was at the trade breakfast in the Windows of the World restaurant on the 109th floor. So much horror and sadness happened that day and continued for weeks, months, and years.

This coming September marks the twentieth anniversary of that horrible terrorist attack. Will anyone’s life ever be the same again? Probably not. Will anyone ever forget that da? Hopefully not. So many loved ones were lost because of 9/11/2001.

About the Author

Trish Hubschman has published three books with America Star Books: a short story collection of time travel and romance stories called Through Time and the first two books in the Tracy Gayle/Danny Tide series: The Fire and Unlucky Break. Trish attended college at Long Island University’s Southampton campus, earning a BA degree in English with an emphasis in writing. She lives on Long Island with her husband and two dogs. Her website is https://www.dldbooks.com/hubschman/.

• 9/11
• horror