9/11/01

by Benji: The Vampire Confuser

Dawson's Creek and all characters therein belong to Kevin Williamson.

Gale held her newest child as if afraid that any moment she would be torn from her. She wanted to call out to Mitch, but she could not find the breath. Before her on the television screen a vision held her spellbound. She had been woken only a few minutes before by her daughter's crying. She had turned on the television because sometimes the sound of new voices made her curious enough to stop her crying. Sure enough, the baby was not crying. But Gale was.

Pacey was not happy to answer the phone when it rang, but did so anyway. "Hello?" he said groggily.

"Pacey?" a male voice said, sounding almost desperate.

"Dad?" Pacey had never heard his father like this before. He could swear he was about to cry. Immediately his brain snapped aware. "What happened?"

Grams and Jennifer clung to each other, hardly daring to look away from the television. Behind them, Jack held the phone receiver. Toby was on the other line. Neither was speaking, they merely took comfort in each other's presence, long distance though it may be.

Dawson sat up, not quite awake, and not registering the reason. "Turn on the TV!" a voice from outside the room called out. "Turn on the news!" He realized it had been someone banging on the door that had woken him.

Joey was almost frantic when she couldn't get through to Bessie on the phone. Across the room Audrey listened dully to the news on the radio. Bessie's line was busy. The moment she hung up, the phone rang. She picked it up. "Hello?"

"Joey?" Bessie said. "I just tried to call you, were you on the phone?"

That afternoon Mitch hung up the phone finally. He and Gale had been talking to Dawson all day. He immediately picked up the phone to call others that he knew. He didn't know who to start with. He suddenly wanted to talk to everyone who'd ever been a part of his life.

Pacey sighed with relief. He'd just heard that both Doug and Gretchen were both present and accounted for. He wondered if Dawson had heard the news. Of course he had. Everyone had by this point. Worry and fear had faded from Pacey's heart. For the first time in his life, he wanted to join the military. He wanted to be one of the ones to get the bastards that had done this.

On September11th, I got up at eight, nine in the morning, earlier than my custom at the time. I was planning on making a trip to the bay. The first thing I heard that morning was the news on my clock radio, waking me. A plane had hit the world trade center. I didn't think much of it. I'd heard tales of a small plane hitting the world trade center way back almost before my time. I was only in my early 20's. I got in the shower.

When I got out, my father was waiting for me. Had I heard the news? Yes I had. No, I hadn't. A second plane had hit while I was in the shower. Obviously not an accident. I was a little shocked, but still, it hadn't rocked my world. Then I found out they were not small planes. They were 747's.

I made my way downstairs to the TV and just watched. Smoke billowing from the twin towers. It didn't look real. Particularly the one shot of the anchorman standing across the river from the towers. Surreal. I wasn't upset yet. I was curious. Like a passerby at a car accident. Morbid, maybe. But not really effected. I was a bit smug actually. Hah, the towers are still standing you Assholes, give it up, you suck. My dad pointed out the same thing. They kept trying at the towers and they would not fall. No one could knock down the towers. "You've managed to kill just about everyone else, but like a poor marksman, you keep missing the target!" said Captain Kirk.

Down at the bottom were little updates and bulletins as they played the plane footage over and over. I was beginning to get scared. Dad was in the garage getting ready to leave for work.

"Dad the Pentagon's been hit!"

"Dad the National Mall's on fire!"

"Dad there were explosions outside the White House!"

"Dad, I think part of one of the towers fell! Like a corner or

something."

Dad left for work. And I decided that I would not let some Terrorist Assholes keep me from having my day out. I was scared by this point. Would I be able to get past DC? There are a lot of planes in the air.

Where else are they trying to hit? Will the bridge be closed? Will bridge be there? Will it go away while I'm crossing it?

I went anyway. Was I being disrespectful of what had happened? Some might say yes. I don't think I was.

I did not listen to music on my trip. I had it on DC101, wanting to know what Elliot and the Class had to say about the events. I only heard Elliot speak once. "I can't believe the World Trade Center is gone." Less than ten minutes after me and my father had gloated about how the towers still stood, they both fell. I called everybody from my cell phone who's number I could remember off the top of my head. Anger didn't hit me for many days. I was too shocked, to scared. What was coming next? Who did it? Everyone was denying responsibility, didn't terrorists want everyone to know who'd done it? Was World War Three about to start? Would the world end? Was the Book of Revelation about to come true? Would I be drafted?

Eventually, I found myself wanting to hear people talk about it. Not just world leaders, and friends. But celebrities. Actors, sports stars, Musicians. And finally, fictional characters. I bought every comic I could find that got published about the day. This is just one of the shows that I wondered about. Please, if you know of any other stories like this, let me know.

Ben Church