9/11 Tribute
(September 11, 2001)
We both love you very much!
~ Mom and Dad
Caroline and Aaron Martin placed the small note on their daughter's nightstand and kissed her forehead.
"Goodbye Nina. We love you," Caroline whispered. Benjamin kissed her head also and together they left for their job in the World Trade Center.
Around eight o'clock, six year old, Nina Martin, woke up and found the note lying on her nightstand. She picked it up and read it, smiling the whole time.
"I love you too," she whispered to the small sheet of paper. She placed the note back on her nightstand and skipped into the kitchen to find her Gran cooking pancakes.
"Good morning!" Nina said.
"Good morning Nina," her gran said. Nina giggled. "Are you hungry?"
"Yes ma'am ," Nina replied. Gran placed a plate with two chocolate chip pancakes on the table and Nina sat down and took a large bite of the pancakes. "Yummy!" she exclaimed. Her gran laughed and turned on the television. Nina sat there and laughed at the cartoons and ate her pancakes until she smelt smoke.
"Gran!" Nina yelled.
Gran scurried towards Nina. "Yes?" she asked. Then she smelt it. Smoke.
"Why does it smell like smoke?" Nina asked.
"Sweetie, I don't know," she replied. "Stay here."
Nina nodded and watched her gran open the door. The aroma got stronger and filled the house. Nina left out a scream and Gran quickly closed the door and ran to Nina to comfort her.
"Everything's fine," Gran whispered. But even she knew that wasn't the case. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
Nina sat in her Gran's arms, crying, for another minute, until the phone started ringing.
Nina stood up and ran to the phone and answered it.
"Hello, this is the Martin residence," she said into the phone, using the response her parents told her to use.
"Nina! It's mommy!" Caroline yelled.
"Hi mommy!" Nina yelled back.
"Are you inside?" Caroline asked.
"Yes. It smells like smoke outside," Nina replied.
"I know. Our work building is on fire."
"Well stop, drop, and roll! Get out the building!" Nina yelled.
"No sweetie. We can't make it out. The fire is everywhere," Caroline Martin replied.
"Mommy! You will make it out! Find an exit!"
"Sweetie, there is no way. Just know I love you. Daddy wants to talk to you."
"Mommy, don't go! I love you!" Nina screamed.
"Nina? It's me!" Aaron yelled.
Nina could hear noise and yelling in the background. "Daddy! Mommy says there's a fire! Get out the building!"
"We can't. Nina, I'm sorry, but we aren't going to make it. I love you!"
"I love you too!" Nina yelled. She didn't even notice that her Gran was standing next to her with tears in her eyes.
"Nina, stay safe," Caroline and Aaron Martin said.
"Come home," Nina whimpered.
"We love you," they said, and then the line went dead. Tears were streaming down her face.
She looked up at her gran. "Are they coming home?" she asked.
"I don't think so," Gran whispered.
Nina broke down right there. She ran into her room, grabbed the note her parents left her that very morning and placed it on her heart and cried.
(September 9, 2011)
Nina sat in her room on her bed and cried. She held the small note to her heart like she did ten years ago. Today was the tenth anniversary of September 11. The day Nina's parents died in the attack on the World Trade Center. She still couldn't believe they were gone.
She sat there crying until there was a small knock on the door. Nina wiped away her tears and allowed them to enter. She was shocked to see Fabian when the door opened.
"Hi," he muttered.
"Hello," she murmured back.
"Why are you crying?" he asked, coming to sit beside me.
"Today is the tenth anniversary of my parents' death," she answered.
"Wait. Isn't today the tenth anniversary of the attacks in New York?" he asked.
"Indeed it is. My parents worked in the World Trade Center. This day, ten years ago, terrorists attacked. Thousands of innocent people were killed. My parents were included," Nina explained.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know," Fabian replied.
"It's fine. No one did," she answered. He nodded. "They called me before they died," Nina whispered.
"They did?"
Nina nodded. "Yes they did. They told me that they weren't coming home and that they loved me," she said. More tears rolled her cheeks.
"Nina," Fabian muttered and placed his arm around her, trying to comfort her.
"It was so weird. That morning, they left me this note," she said, handing it to him.
He read over it quickly and Nina noticed a small tear roll down his cheek. "Were their bodies ever found?" Fabian asked.
Nina nodded. "They were actually found in each other's arms," she said. Both Fabian and Nina were crying now.
"Caroline and Aaron Martin, may you rest in peace," Nina murmured.
That was a oneshot for all the families that loss someone close to them on 9/11/ God bless you all!