My Unintended

That morning felt normal. In fact, it was normal. I had gotten up at the usual unearthly hour, dragged Frank out of bed, gotten ready for work, fed Michaela breakfast, kissed both her and Frank goodbye and wandered to my car.

You see?

A normal day.

As I approached work at 8.30am, something changed within me. I started to feel uneasy but I brushed it off and went up to my shared office.

I had changed jobs since working at the book shop last year. In fact, I had changed jobs several times. I went from one company to another, desperate to use my art. This was the longest job I had had so far, I had been accepted in May and on my ‘normal’ day it was September.

That day was misleading; from the outside, everything was going as it did every other day. From where I was something didn’t feel quite right. As I mumbled ‘Good morning’ to the man who shared my office the feeling was worse than ever.

I sat at my desk and gazed out of the window to the buildings across the water. Two caught my eye; the twin towers. Technically, my day had already begun at 8.30am, un-technically, the boss didn’t get here until 9am so I always allowed myself that extra time to look at the World Trade Centre and think.

On that day, my thoughts were broken by a fireball.

Yeah, you heard me correctly, a fire ball.

A ball of flames erupted hundreds of feet into the air.

I shook my head and blinked a few times, wishing what I had just witnessed was all a dream.

“Steve! Did you see that?” I asked my colleague. I couldn’t take my eyes off the flames and I heard Steve swear very loudly as he ran to the window where I stood.

“Mother fuckers!” He swore again. My heart was pounding, it wasn’t a dream.

I could hear people on the same floor as us shouting profanities as they saw what had just happened.

An aeroplane had just collided with the side of one of the Twin Towers.

That was it; from then on I knew the uneasy feeling inside of me had been an indication of terrible things to come.

I watched in horror as another ‘plane crashed into the other tower and felt tears fall down my face. The phone brought me back to my senses and both Steve and I continued to stare at the burning buildings, hardly daring to look away.

Steve looked like he was fully prepared to kill the person on the other end of the phone as it rang for the third time. We were still standing at the window, unable to believe what was happening.

“What?” I asked sharply into the phone as I yanked it off the receiver.

“Thank fuck!” Frank’s voice came from the other end.

“Oh my God, Frank, are you okay?” I asked as I turned back to the window.

“Me? Gee, you work so close to those fucking buildings! Are you-“I cut him off with a loud shriek.

“Holy fuck!” Steve yelped and jumped back from the window. My mouth hung open as the building swayed and collapsed.

“Gee? Gee!” Frank called down the phone. I stared, completely mesmerised by what was happening. Only when he screamed my name hysterically did I pull myself away.

“Frank, baby, I’m fine.” I said, crying into the phone.

“Gee, are you sure?”

“Frankie, I’m on the other side of the river in my office.” I said through tears and closed my eyes. “Is Michaela okay?”

“Gee, she’s fine. It’s you we’re all worried about! Your family is here.” He said.

“Baby, I have to go. I promise I’m fine.” I mumbled, wiping my eyes. “I love you.” I put phone down and took my place at the window beside Steve.

My mind was working over-time as I witnessed hundreds of people lose their lives.

What had I done to make a difference in the world? I drew cartoons and raised my daughter. Big deal.

A sudden thought hit me; I was going to join the band. I had to get my message out somehow. I had to do something to impact other people’s lives.

I pulled away from the scene as the second tower fell and the dust swept over the skyline.

I had to do something.