There she stood unable to move. What she saw around her was people who were fearful that their untimely deaths were upon them. Shocked and unable to process what was going on around her she acted upon instinct. She thought to herself  “Am I dreaming?” and  “Is this really happening?” The path of destruction that was left behind will forever lie fresh under the eroded gravel. The burning image of the blood stains will never be erased from the memories of so many who were not only physically scarred but emotionally scarred as well, and that burn is like an eternal flame.

A couple of hours before Laura Walkers was sitting at her desk located in the South Tower. Phones were ringing and as always Laura had a million files to go through. Her best friend Rachel Adams sat one cubicle to the left of her. The two of them were inseparable.

“Hey Rachel” Laura nagged across the cubicle.
“Yes Laura?” Rachel replied as if she already knew what Laura was going to say.
“What would you say if I could get us out of this associates meeting this morning to grab coffee and be back by nine o’clock the latest?” 
“Laura you know we can’t skip this meeting Alex will be so angry!” Rachel answered
“I guess you’re right, there is no way we could sneak out with the boss always watching.” She huffed rolling back to her cubicle on the ninety-second floor.
The phone rang aimlessly.
“Hello” Laura greeted.
“Hello Laura it’s Marsha from the North Tower, and I was wondering if you had the file from the 1997 insurance claim that was made against your company?”
“I believe I do just give one second to try and find it.”
“Okay” Marasha responded and waited.
Laura shuffled through the file cabinets until she found what Marsha needed.
“Hello Marsha, I found it!”

Laura heard a loud crash and the phone went silent. She turned and looked out of the immense glass windows to see New York City swallowed by chaos. She knew this was no accident. She froze. Her heart beating at an uncontrollable rate. A plane had crashed into the beautifully crafted tower. The tower that held one hundred and ten floors each one constructed to perfection. She picked up her cell phone and reached for Rachel and they ran to the stairs. She tried to call her mother just in case this was her time, but she had lost all signal. Laura could no longer see life through the lenses of an inexperienced twenty-eight year old woman, but rather look through the more experienced lenses that were crafted for a intelligent and strong woman. Since they were on the ninety-second floor they had a long way down to reach the entrance of the building, so they tried to sprint around the crowd, but there were just too many people. People who she has formed relationships with, people who she cared so deeply about, and people who were all different but had one thing in common across their faces: fear. Fear was in everyone’s eyes that day. Fear of losing their lives and their families lives. At this moment Laura remembered the happy times she felt with her sister Emily embraced by the warm campfire. She tried to picture that image in her head, and relive every second of it, but she quickly shook the memory away and tried to remain focused on the task at hand which was to get her and Rachel out as fast as possible.

Rachel could not stop crying she knew that it would be hard to escape the ruthless attackers. Laura looked back at her.

“Rachel look at me. We are going to get out of this alive. We are stronger than them” Laura confirmed.
  As they reached the sixty-second floor they felt their bodies shift just like the building did, and many fell with the impact but Laura and Rachel kept going. The string of pearls Laura’s mother gave her had broke and scattered across the stairs. Laura looked down at the pearls that had just fallen and thought “It could have been easy to pick them up and string them back together. Why can’t New York pick itself back up and string itself back together?”

Once again the screams and tears broke out just like they had seventeen minutes ago. Laura gripped Rachel’s hand even tighter than before and increased her speed, pushing through the crowds of people. Time was running out and the South Tower had just been hit.

When they reached the fifth floor the building started to collapse. They were almost there, and they both knew that they could do this. Determination kept them going, but as soon as Laura saw the entrance she turned to look at Rachel, but she wasn't there. Laura tried to remain calm, but she had a choice to make. Would she go back into the crashing building, or would she run to safety?  Eddie who was one of her co-workers saw Laura at the door.

“Laura you have to get out of here now!” Eddie screamed.
Laura’s ears were ringing with the sound of explosions that were too loud for her to hear Eddie.
Eddie grabbed her and pushed his way out of the burning building.

“I need to go back, Rachel is in there!” Laura shouted
“Laura you can’t go back in there the building is going to implode.” Eddie protested.

Laura did not listen and appeared as a fish trying to swim upstream. Eddie knew he needed to do everything in his power to help Laura find her best friend, and he rushed to her side. When they reached the third floor Laura screamed. Eddie looked down to see a helpless twenty-seven year old woman lying on the ground covered by a piece of ceiling plaster. It was Rachel. He helped Laura carefully lift the plaster off from Rachel. Eddie picked her up and then checked to make sure that no one else was on the floor.

“Laura I need you to run as fast as you can down the stairs. I don’t care if you have to push your way to the entrance, but you do not look back. Am I clear?” Eddie ordered.

Laura nodded and did exactly what Eddie told her to do.
Laura  tried to remain calm, but all of the thoughts that were rushing through her head prevented her from thinking clearly and slowed her pace down. Eddie knew that time was quickly fading out.

“Laura you need to run faster!” Eddie shrieked

Laura thought she could fight the clock, but in reality the attackers were winning. She was losing all willpower to fight back. They reached the entrance of the tower and Laura saw the tower was caving in at a much faster rate than before. The sound of the walls fracturing and the helpless civilians in distress distracted her immensely, but she did not look back just like Eddie told her.

As she ran out of the building she saw the many tear-stained  faces, and tears started to roll down her own face. Then she heard something behind her.
“Laura you can do this. Just keep fighting, fight for Rachel, fight for your mother, and most importantly fight for your city.” Eddie hollered as loud as he could.

  Laura kept running. The tears couldn't stop her and neither could the attackers. This was her city and she was not going to let those who did not belong here take it from her or those who felt the same pride she felt for her city.

Another loud bang sounded that could have been heard from miles upon miles away. The South Tower had been completely demolished.
Laura turned to Eddie.
“Eddie where are we going to go.” Laura uttered hopelessly.
“Our only option is to cross the Brooklyn Bridge.” Eddie responded nervously.
There was no where else to go. Chaos was everywhere and there was no escaping it. Rachel began to regain consciousness and was unaware as to what was going on.
“Where am I? What is going on?” Rachel wailed.
“Rachel there has been an attack on the World Trade Center, and you got stuck under a piece of plaster that had fallen from the ceiling. We are going to be okay you just have to do everything Eddie tells you to do.” Laura replied reassuring Rachel.
She thought to herself “I will never forget this day.”

September 11, 2001 was a day of destruction, a day where a great deal of hope was lost, a day of courage, and most importantley a day where many stood up for their city. We should all commend those who were brave enough to stand up to the attackers and let them know that they were in the greatest city in the world, and nothing could tear it down. After the attacks New York City was not broken it was just bent. The love and sense of community helped to rebuild it from the rubble into an even more beautiful attraction. The fear that lived turned into power and determination to make their city stronger. The towers stood high in the sky proud in their last moments of life. Even though they are no longer one hundred and ten stories high their honor and what they stood for will never be forgotten.