Sept. 11: Hero
Me: This is a tribute fan fic to all the victims of the senseless Sept. 11 attacks. Even if I don't own anything, I still have a heart.
He remembered the time when he really was a hero.
He was talking to an 11-year-old girl one minute, then, the ceiling collapsed the next. It was the worst two minutes of his life.
Instinctively, he grabbed the girl, protecting her from the debris but exposing her to the scent of hamburger breath.
He noticed two of the others rushing to stop the debris from striking the pregnant ones and the innocents. Debris kept falling until it completely collapsed upon them. His friends had gotten everyone except him and the girl out.
He dug into his bag. A chocolate bar and some Filipino candies, and a bottle of water. Just enough for him and the little girl. The little girl looked panicked.
Lucky them. The debris had formed a sort of house around them, but he felt pain. Pain in his leg. It had pinned him down, but he knew he couldn't die. He wasn't able to die.
But the girl could. So he gave her his bar and the water. She ate and drank, seeming grateful that she could still enjoy the little things in life.
And that was when he felt more pain. Pain everywhere, and it wasn't just from the debris. It was from everywhere else, the corresponding locations of other casualties.
The Pentagon. The plane. Other people dying. Going up in flames.
And suddenly, the rescuers pulled him and her out. England and Philippines looked worried, anxious...and proud of him for being a real hero.
Yes. America could remember the Civil War. World War II. Revolutionary War. Freeing Evalynn.
But he was a true hero on Sept. 11.
The day of the terrorist attacks. The day he realized that being a hero wasn't just saying you are.
It was doing.
Me: So thanks to the heroes of September 11, 2001. If it weren't for you, the ones you saved would've gone. Please, if you're reading this in heaven or on Earth...thank you.