A Final Goodbye

It was scary, the day those planes crashed. I was at school and we were coloring in our math books before we had snack when the principal started talking through the speakers. She said something bad happened, and that everyone was being sent home for the rest of the day. She told the teachers to keep us calm and get us on the buses as soon as they got in the parking lot, but she didn't tell us what happened.

Everyone was talking about what could've happened on the way home, but none of us knew what it was for sure. One of the fifth grade boys, two years older than me and my friends, he said it was aliens, but no one believed him. He started telling a story about how they were taking all of the grownups away and were going to leave us here all alone, and one of the kindergarteners started crying. He thought it was funny, but everyone else started yelling at him and he didn't say anything else until he got off the bus. Everyone was quiet after that, cause we didn't know what was going on. One of the older girls asked the bus driver if he knew, but he shook his head. He wasn't allowed to tell us, and we just got more scared.

I ran off the bus and into our house. I called for my mom and she was by the TV in the living room. Daddy wasn't home yet, since he had to go to work that day. He was a fireman in New York City. He always came home smelling like a campfire and told me stories where he would save a kitty from a tree or a little boy or girl from a house that got on fire. He helped save a mommy and daddy just like him before too! I told him I was proud of him and he said he was proud of me too, for being so good in school all the time.

Mommy had her hand over her mouth and was looking at the screen, so I looked at it too. There were two tall buildings on the TV, and one of them was smoking near the top. The news man said a plane hit the building, and I asked mommy why the man flying the plane didn't see it there, since it was so tall.

"I don't know, Bella. The reporters will tell us when they know," she had said with tears in her eyes. He said it was in New York City, and I wondered if daddy was going to help save those people like he did the others. I asked mommy that too, but she just shook her head and picked me up. I put my arms around her neck and she put her head on my shoulder. She was squishing me and I asked her why she was crying.

"I'm worried, baby, that's all. A lot of people work in that building." That was all she said, and we kept watching the screen as they kept playing the plane going right into the building. The man talking said something about it being a terr-…something attack, but I didn't know what that was. Mommy gasped and held me tighter, and I wiggled a little so her arms weren't so tight. I was about to ask mommy what it was, but the TV man started yelling something and the movie changed. The building was still smoking, but there was another plane on the screen. It hit the other building, the one next to the smoking one, and mommy gasped again.

"Oh, my God . . ." She said it really quietly, but I didn't know why. She kept shaking her head and her face was wet as she cried. The TV man said all of the people in the city had to leave to let the firemen and the police men get to the buildings to rescue the people and I smiled.

"Daddy's going to rescue the people, mommy! You don't have to cry," I said, hugging her neck. She smiled back, but she didn't look very happy. I got confused and mommy knew, just like she always does.

"It's nothing, baby. I just hope everyone makes it back home, that's all," she said, but I knew she was more worried about daddy. "Did you eat snack at school?" she asked, putting me down and taking my hand. Mommy picked up the remote and pushed the button that made the TV before we ate, and I climbed up into one of the chairs at the table.

She made be a PB and J and stood next to the sink as I ate it. She almost laughed when the jelly squished out the bottom of my sandwich and all over my fingers, but I knew she was still sad about those people. I finished the rest of my sandwich and mommy got me a paper towel with water on it to clean up my face and hands. I ran to the hallway and grabbed my backpack to do the homework my teacher told us to do before we had to leave. Mommy just kept watching me as I got my writing book out to practice my spelling and letters, and I tried to make her happy.

"Don't worry, mommy. Daddy and his friends will save all those people, and then he'll come home, just like he always does."

Daddy never did come home that night, and I slept in mommy's bed since she couldn't sleep. When she did, she wouldn't stop moving and kept saying "Charlie" until she woke up. That's my daddy's name. She woke me up when she got out of bed to get the phone, but she didn't come back. I was still really sleepy, so I went back to sleep. When I woke up again and it was morning, mommy still wasn't back in the bed with me. I pushed the blankies down and got up to go find her.

Mommy was sitting at the table in the kitchen and she was crying loud. The phone was still in her hand, and she was squeezing it really hard. I put my hand on her arm and she snatched me right off the floor and hugged me really hard. Her tears made my hair wet and she couldn't talk when I asked her what was wrong. She breathed really loud and it tickled my face.

"Bella, daddy was helping the people in the buildings yesterday, just like you said," she said. It was hard to understand her because she was still crying.

"Did he save the people?" I asked, and mommy nodded her head up and down.

"Yeah, baby, he did. But he got hurt really bad, baby." She petted my head as she talked.

"Are you going to help him? Make him feel better like when I fall down?"

"I wish I could, baby, but . . . daddy . . . he was hurt too badly. He saved a lady and her son, but he didn't make it out before the buildings fell down. He's not coming home, baby."

"Then where is he gonna go?"

"He's with grandma and grandpa Swan now, honey. He's not here anymore." I didn't understand. Why would he go with grandma and grandpa Swan? Didn't he want to stay with us? Why would he leave like that?

"He's dead, baby."

"No, he's not," I said quietly. Why would daddy go dead? Didn't he love us?

"Yes, honey, he is. He gave his life to save all those people."

"No, mommy. He's gonna come back. He always comes back."

"Baby . . . he died. He's not-"

"No!" I yelled. I wiggled out of mommy's arms and ran to my room. I slammed the door shut and shoved my toy chest in front of the door so she couldn't open it and jumped on my bed. I pulled the covers over my head and cried into my stuffed wolf that daddy got me for my birthday last year. He was a funny browny-orange color, but I still liked him. I cried and cried and cried, but I didn't know how long I cried for before I fell asleep.

Daddy was there waiting for me.

I ran to him and he picked me up and spun me around. I was crying again, and he sat down with me on the misty floor. He wiped my tears away and kissed me on my head. His moustache tickled my cheeks, just like it always did.

"Isabella, baby girl, I can't stay long," he said, his voice sounding funny. "I have to leave, hon."

"But why? Why do you have to leave?" I asked him, crying again. He smiled at me.

"I don't want to, baby girl, but I don't have a choice. When I was trying to save those people, I got hurt really bad. But it doesn't hurt anymore, Bella. I'm okay, but I can't stay with you and mommy."

"What are we supposed to do, daddy? Mommy is real sad," I said.

"I need you to help mommy be happy again, baby girl. Don't let her be sad all the time, okay? And I don't want you to be sad, either, okay?" I nodded my head really fast and he laughed at me. There was a bright flash of light, and daddy looked behind him.

"It's time for me to go, baby girl," he said. He looked sad, but he looked . . . okay.

"You have to leave already? But you just got here!" He laughed again.

"I know, baby girl, but there's something I want you to know." He waited until I nodded to tell me what it was.

"I love you and your mom, Bella, and I want you to know that even though you won't be able to see me, I'm always going to be right next to you. I died doing something I loved, and I won't leave the people I love to live alone. You're never going to be alone. Do you understand that, Bella?" I nodded and he kissed my forehead. "Don't ever forget it, okay?" I nodded again and he stood up.

"Goodbye, baby girl. I love you." He started fading away, and I waved really fast to make sure he saw me.

"Bye bye, daddy. I love you too."

This short story is dedicated to those who lost their lives or loved ones on September 11, 2001. Ten years may have gone by, but the memories of that day and those taken so early from their friends and family will never fade. Whether they were policemen, firemen, paramedics, or civilians, one thing remains the same:

They may be gone, but they will not be forgotten.