Prologue
It was evening. The portable kitchen TV was on full blast over the sound of clattered dishes and faucet water. The faint smell of homemade ramen still sifted in the air. I had been playing in our cozy little living room.
Unable to wait another second I looked at the wall clock for what felt like the billionth time. "Daddy!" I groaned, and rolled onto my back. "When's Mom supposed to be home?"
An echoed laugh rang from the other room and the faucet turned off. "No matter how many times you ask, the answer won't change."
"But when is soon? She promised she'd come home tonight."
Dad's slippers shuffled until he appeared in the kitchen doorway. Fringe hung over the glare of his glasses, his favorite old shirt was untucked and the ends of his sweatpants dragged on the carpet. Everything about him was so warm and safe, but at that moment there was something sad behind the smile he gave me. "She said she would try, Kagome."
My posture slumped. "So she lied again."
If Dad wanted to say anything else, it was dismissed by the ring from our house phone. He sighed and spared me one last look before he grabbed it. I blew a strand of hair from of my face. That's probably her, calling to apologize.
"Miss Tanaka, slow down. What's happened to—?"
I sat up, head turned towards the open doorway. Dad had braced the dining table with his free hand. I stood and managed to recognize the voice of Mom's secretary as she screamed incoherencies on the other line over and over.
"Daddy?"
He brushed past and scrambled for the remote, frantic whispers under his breath. "Daddy, what's going on?" I was ignored. Every muscle in my body went stiff. "Is—Mom okay?" My voice broke with the start of tears.
He struggled in his panic to find the right station. "Oh…no."
The Dawn Enterprises building where Mom worked was up in smoke, a plane visibly smashed into its side. Strange green flags fell from the sky, and terrified screams could be heard below.
I was transfixed. I didn't comprehend what they'd reported, or for how long I'd stared at that screen. All I knew was that she was already gone. The plane had crashed into the fifteenth floor.
The Great Fall of October 5th Sixty-Five had been a day like any other. One that we would later realize had started a war, and a dramatic change for countless lives just like mine.