One New Message
Shauna Darcy got up earlier than usual on the morning of
September 11th, 2001. For two weeks, she had been stressed over a
meeting she had to run on this day. After getting dressed and compiling her
papers for work, Shauna went into her son’s room and laid out his clothes for school.
She leaned in, gave him a kiss goodbye and wished her still sleeping son,
Tommy, a good day at school.
As she is
accustomed, Shauna is the first one to enter the doors of Temptronic INC, the company
she called home for 35 years. Shauna gets to work on the stack of papers on her
desk, and, so entranced with her work, three hours go by.
The phone rings.
“Tempronic Corporation this is Shauna, how may I help you?”
Shauna said.
On the
other end is Linda, a close friend and former co-worker. Linda asks
if Shauna heard the news. Shauna has not. A plane crashed into the World Trade
Center.
The line
went silent for a moment.
At 8:46 am, a flight out of
Boston had struck the 93-99th floors of the North Tower in New York
City, killing hundreds.
Shauna sat
up from her desk and goes to the company cafeteria, where a few of her
co-workers had gathered. Shauna grabs the television remote and turns on the
news. Everyone huddles around the small
television. They see images of billowing smoke from the North Tower, initial
reports indicating a terrible accident had happened.
More people gather and there is
an uneasy quiet.
This was no accident, one
person says.
It was a
beautiful, sunny day in Hoboken, New Jersey. Jack Murray got up earlier than
usual on this day, Sept. 11, 2001, because he needed to get an oil change for
his car before he goes to work. It’s
8:15 in the morning as Jack pulls into the gas station and pulls his car in to
the back. Jack and the head repair man
make small talk as Jack’s car is being looked at.
They talk
about the weather. The meteorologist on the news reported the temperature would
be in the 80’s that day. Summer, Jack told him, might last a bit longer.
Then, “Breaking News” scrolled
across the television in the corner of the store.
The news anchor is saying a plane crashed into
the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
The men
stand speechless. There is no video of the towers yet, only news anchors talking.
“Mr. Murray, your car is ready,” a voice over
the intercom says.
Jack gets
in his car and drives. He tries to focus
on the road, but as he goes further and further down Route 3, he can’t take his
eyes off the clear image of black smoke on the picturesque blue, New York sky.
As Jack
drives to work, he listens intensely to the radio. One news reporter is
broadcasting from the top of the South Tower. At 9:03, a second plane crashes
into the World Trade Center, this time striking the 75-85th
floors of the South Tower. Then the radio broadcast goes silent.
Jack’s heart races. After minutes of dead air, the broadcast
returns.
A plane hit the South Tower and
those inside the building are told to evacuate.
Jack wants
to stay in the car and listen, but he is now at work and he knows he has to go
to work. Things are different, though. Jack is not greeted by the receptionist at the
door. He does not see anyone inside.
Jack is settling into his office when his friend and co-worker Donna
comes in and ushers him up to the roof of the building.
All of
Jack’s co-workers are standing together, staring at the top of the Twin Towers
from across the Hudson. The black smoke looked like a violent thunderstorm was coming.
Jack and the employees roam from the office to the roof; some bring their
paperwork up with them.
An important client scheduled
to meet today will not be there, because the FAA has grounded all flights. As
Jack looks on, he wonders if this is only the beginning of things to come.
It’s now
9:20 and no one has left the cafeteria at Temptronic. Shauna’s husband, Tom,
who was making an important delivery to a client with other members of the
shipping department, enters the room.
“Do you know what’s happened?” Shauna asks.
“Yeah, we’ve been listening to the radio the entire time,”
Tom says. “The President is about to address the nation.”
Photo courtesy of nbcnews.com
At 9:31,
President Bush comes on TV from Florida, where he was visiting schools for the
day, and declares the plane crashed as “an apparent act of terror.” Within
minutes, another plane, Flight 77, crashes into Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
After
listening to the President, Shauna wonders if this will be remembered as the
worst day in American history. Shauna has not been able to leave the news
broadcast, but she began to worry about her family. She tells Tom that she
should call her mother, and asks if they should pull Tommy out of school. No,
Tom says, it’s probably the best place for him.
The branch
manager for the company addresses the employees and urges them to get as much
work done as possible, so they can leave early. Before returning to her desk,
Tom asks Shauna, “Have you spoken to Jack at all?” Shauna stares at him for a
minute. “No. I hope he wasn’t in the city today. ”
Shauna
rushes to her phone and calls her brother Jack. Shauna hadn’t talked to Jack
for a week or two, but she knows he was planning on getting lunch with someone
in the city sometime soon. With every
ring, Shauna grows more and more anxious.
Jack’s work phone
echoes in his empty office, eventually going to voicemail.
Jack was on the roof
when Donna barged in yelling, “They’re gone!”
Jack stared
at the clearing fog around the spot where the World Trade Center once stood. To
Jack, it was as if the towers had just disappeared in thin air.
Donna
informs Jack that all employees have the rest of the day off. Jack is thankful
for this, because he doesn’t think he could focus on work.
Photo courtesy of davidpakman.com
Jack
gathers his things and heads out on the road. He hits traffic, as hundreds of people
are fleeing the city. Jack takes out his cell phone and attempts to call his
mother. He has no reception. The radio announces that Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has
called for the evacuation of Lower Manhattan around 11 am.
Back in
Sharon, Shauna is still trying to get a hold of her brother on the phone. She
overhears co-workers saying that they were unable to contact family and friends
living in New York, and the phones, they believe, are out. Shauna decides to
send Jack an email. The email was simple:
“Jack, please let me know that you are safe.
Love, Shauna.”
The clock
reads 2:30 when Tom comes over and tells Shauna that they have been told they
can now leave work. They get in the car and go to Blessed Sacrament in Walpole
to pick up Tommy. As he and the rest of his third grade class come down the
hill, Tom and Shauna are able to smile for the first time that day. At the same
time, they do not know what to expect once he gets in the car. Does he know what
happened? Does he understand what
happened?
“How was your day at school, sweetie?” Shauna asks.
“It was fine,” Tommy says. “We really didn’t do much work
today, our teacher was too sad.”
“Why was she sad?” Tom asks his son.
“Well, Principal Wilson came on the loud speakers twice and
said that two planes had hit a big tower in New York, and our teacher was sad
because her brother is a firefighter in New York,” Tommy said. “We had to stop
in the middle of a math lesson, hold hands and pray.”
Tom and Shauna look at each other. Finally, Shauna asks, “Are you ok? Do you have
any questions about what happened?”
“Not really, they kinda told us,” Tommy said. “What’s for
dinner tonight?”
Fighting back tears and laughter, “Whatever you want, honey,”
Shauna says.
Once at home, Shauna goes right
to the computer to check her email, but still no response from Jack. Shauna
calls her mother and sisters to check on them, finishing every conversation with
the same question, “Have you heard from Jack?” The answer was the same each
time. “No.”
While Shauna was on the phone, Tom
was fixated on the television, switching between news shows. It’s now 5:30 and
Tommy comes in the family room, having just finished his homework and is very
hungry.
“So,” he said with a long pause. “Are we eating dinner
before or after you guys vote?”
“Vote?” Tom says. “Oh shit, I completely forgot about that.
Shauna, tonight is the town’s vote on the new library.”
“Damnit,” Shauna responds. “Do we have to go?”
“Not unless you are ok with our taxes going up because of
some unnecessary new library.” Tom says.
Tom and
Shauna put Tommy in the back seat and race off to the town high school to vote
on the proposition, a big issue over the last couple weeks within the town. The
family noticed that the roads were nearly abandoned, with only one or two cars
within sight. Inside the high school, a couple of people are in the school’s
cafeteria. The older woman in charge of dividing up the ballots for each
district sat, clinging to hand-held radios.
At home,
Jack looked into his work bag for his laptop to email his friends and family
that he is safe. He left it at work. His
cell phone’s battery is drained from overuse. Even though it won’t make calls,
it still holds all of the numbers that Jack doesn’t know by heart, including
his sisters Eileen, Maura, and Shauna.
Jack tries to call his parents on
his landline phone to tell them that his is alright and to check on them, but
he gets no answer. He hates that his parents “live in the dark ages” and are
without helpful technology, such as a computer or an answering machine. Finally,
Jack gives up and walks to his favorite coffee shop to relieve some stress.
Jack orders black coffee and
tells the waiter to “keep them coming.” There are only four or five customers
inside. Jack sits down and watches the television with the owner of the shop.
They talk about the day. The shop owner points to Fight 93 that crashed in
Pennsylvania, where members aboard the flight stood up to the terrorists.
Everyone aboard died, but their actions caused the plane to crash in an open
field instead of the terrorists’ true target, the U.S. Capitol building. They
both still believe there are still brave people who will stand up to evil.
Photo courtesy of awardsmithscomm.com
Jack mentioned he hasn’t been able to get in
touch with his family. The owner says he has a phone and a computer in the
office that Jack is more than welcome to use. Thankful, Jack goes over to the
computer and logs into his email.
There was a message from Shauna
Darcy: “Jack, please let me know that you are safe. Love, Shauna.”
Scattered throughout updates
from his work were emails from his sisters and friends. Jack begins responding.
Jack gives quick and simple responses.
His first response is to his sisters back home in Massachusetts.
Back in Massachusetts, it has
been over 10 hours since Shauna emailed Jack. After voting and picking up
dinner, she logs onto her computer again.
Tom is watching television where
President Bush addressed the nation. He tells the nation the attacks are “evil,
despicable acts of terror.”
"Terrorist attacks can shake the
foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of
America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American
resolve," Bush tells the country.
Shauna sees one new message
from Jack Murray: “Hello all, I am sorry that I haven’t been able to get in
touch with you today. I am home and I am fine. Please let mom and dad know that
I am ok and that I will call all of you tomorrow. Love you always, Jack.”
Tom approaches a smiling Shauna
at the computer. “Did you hear from him?” He asks.
“Yes,” Shauna responds. “Yeah, he is safe. Thank you ,God, I
don’t know what I would have done if he wasn’t.”
Shauna and
Tom embrace, tired from the one of the longest days of their lives. They go
upstairs and tuck Tommy into bed and tell him they love him, and that things
will be better tomorrow. They are finally able to lie down in bed and relax.
Just before falling asleep,
Shauna shuts off the television. She
heard enough bad news for the day and falls asleep.
