reflections

a new mom getting her 8-week-old ready for her first pictures.
a new dad getting ready to go with them.

flipping on the tv. for no reason at all. the first plane had already hit. it was inside the building. inside the building. another plane hits. another plane. new mom and dad cannot move. cannot speak. they watch. they don't care about pictures anymore. there are objects dropping from the sky. what are those objects? new mom starts asking over and over. don't you see them? it takes minutes to register. humans. they are human bodies. how horrific to think that jumping out of a window would be better than staying where you are... nausea. the tower, falls. down. completely down. impossible. completely surreal. the other tower falls. dust. tons of dust. they don't move for a long time.

they leave their house. it is picture time. nothing else to do but go. no one there knows what they are talking about. what? they ask. new mom and dad explain. pictures are taken. no one is smiling but the new baby. as they leave, everything closes. everything. for the whole day. that day.

a day they will never forget.