"Forget me,"
Cries the woman softly to her herself, walking away from the new couple in the park. The two don't notice her until she disappears beyond the falling ahs and dust.
"Love me,"
The last thing the teenage boy thought before he and his childhood friend see the raining debris above. He wishes that he could've told her sooner, as he stares down at her cold, lifeless body.
"Forgive me,"
Muttered the man in a navy blue uniform. He walked mindlessly down white hallways and past busy colleagues, recalling last night's angry argument. He plans to apologize to his wife as soon as he gets home, knowing exactly what he is going to say. What he doesn't know is what is about to come crashing through the walls in front of him.
"Stay with me!"
Shouts the paramedic to the dying woman, who is covered in dirt and blood from head to toe. The last thing she thinks about is her husband in Afghanistan. The last thing she sees is darkness.
"Remember me,"
Said the child to her parents, knowing she won't ever get to be a pilot when she grows up. The soft beeping from the machine next to her sings to her like a lullaby until she falls asleep. Her body is lowered into the ground and her spirit soars through the sky.
America suddenly sits upright in his bed, cold sweat sticking his hair to his forehead and neck. He clutches the sheet as the faces of all the people lost in the attacks flashed across his memory, the grieving families, the crying children, the frantic cries of people trying to outrun the collapse of the World Trade Center. He untangles himself from his white bed sheets and makes his way to the wide window. He stares at the beaming lights of the memorial, tears running down his cheeks.
"I will remember you."
Tribute to those that were lost in the attacks and to their families on September 11, 2001.