Tuesday’s Child

Hi, my name is- well you don’t need to know my name yet, you just need to know my journey. It’s a beautiful day for flying and I feel like the luckiest kid in the world. On Tuesday morning most children are sitting in a classroom getting ready to do vocabulary homework, but not me. Today I’m on my way to Los Angeles, California for the first time ever. Where will this trip take me? Adventure? Disney Land? Maybe education. Where ever this trip takes me, I’m really looking forward to it, I’m just so excited and I don’t know what to say.

I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. I was so excited for my trip that I just stayed up all night ranting and raving about this coming morning and now it’s finally here. I’m seated at the back of the plane. My parents told me that I’m an unaccompanied minor, which means that I’m a kid who’s flying alone. I thought it was gonna be kinda scary at first, but now I think it’s gonna be fun. I have a cool window seat that sees past one of the wings of the plane. Two of the flight attendants came up to me and said they’ll be looking after me all flight long. This definitely makes me feel safe, plus the flight attendant seems really nice and she’s really pretty.

So the pilot just made an announcement over the intercom. We’re getting ready to take off soon. I was feeling out of place being a kid on this plane, but I just looked around and noticed that there are a few other kids on the plane and some of them are even younger than me. This really makes me feel a lot better. Here we go, our plane is moving toward the runway and we’re about to take off. I’m looking out my window at the sunny day and the clear blue sky above me. I just can’t believe this is happening. This is definitely a great way to end the summer.

Here it is. The plane is now on the runway and starting to pick up speed. We’re going faster and faster. The speed makes it feel like we’re on a roller coaster. We’re going so fast that it jokingly makes me feel like we’re gonna be blasted back through time. The plane has finally reached its top speed and now we are airborne. We’re here. We are in the air. There’s a funny feeling that just went through my stomach and it’s like my body just lost all its weight and I feel like a feather in the wind.

The higher up we go, the further we are from the ground and now every building below us looks like that colorful, yet mostly green map-like rug you see in a lot of preschool classrooms. I feel like Charlie Buckett at the end of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, I’m just on top of the world and the world is mine. I think this is the best day of my life. Suddenly it feels like the sound has gone out of my ears. My parents told me this would happen, but no worries, I remembered to keep the gum they gave me in my pocket. They said I would need it to pop my ears. I take out a piece to chew it and suddenly my hearing is back to normal.

The pilot just made an announcement that the plane has reached its cruising altitude, I guess that means we can get up and move around and stuff. It’s not like I really have anywhere to go, but I guess it’s more comfortable. One of the flight attendants just let me know that they’re getting ready to start cabin service and they asked me what I wanted for breakfast. They say I can have fruit with toast, a side of bacon and a small carton of orange juice. After they bring me my breakfast the lady seated next to me starts up a conversation with me. She seems really nice and asks me how do I like flying unaccompanied minor. I tell her it’s ok and that I actually like it very much.

As me and the nice lady were talking our conversation was interrupted by a frightened group of passengers who were suddenly rushing to the back of the plane where I was. It looked as if everyone who was seated at the front of the plane was now in the back. While the people who were seated around me in the back were wondering what was going on I noticed that the flight attendants and even the pilots were also rushing to the back of the plane. This sight scared me because if the pilots are back here then who is flying the plane?

As the pilots made their way to the back of the plane I noticed they were being shoved to the back of the plane by what looked like three men who had knives in their hands telling them to get down and then the men told all of us to keep quiet. Now I’m kinda scared. A warm shock just hit my chest and my heart is beating fast. All of a sudden the plane started feeling like it was flying faster. Wait a minute! As I glance out of my window in a panic I see that the plane is flying faster. As the plane sped up I realized that it’s also started to go downward. Now I’m really scared. The people around me start screaming because they’re scared, I know because I’m scared and I’m trying not to scream with them. Oh God! Oh God! What’s happening?

Suddenly the plane started to slow down a bit. As it slowed down I realize that we are flying way lower than we were before. We are flying so low that I can make out the buildings below us. This is a very scary picture because I don’t think we’re supposed to be flying this low and I don’t think we’re supposed to be flying this fast. The screams around me have quieted down, but worry and fear are still in the air, just like us. As everyone sits in the back of the plane still very shaken up, a voice comes on above our heads. The man’s voice tells us to stay in our seats and that we’re going back to the airport and everything will be okay.

I guess that means we should all be calm and feeling better, but we are still very scared. The lady sitting next to me and the flight attendants come tell me that everything’s gonna be okay and that we’re going back to the airport and that I shouldn’t be afraid, but I can see it on their faces. They’re worried and they are scared to death. The men who took the plane over are all in the front of the plane out of sight where we can’t see them.

While this big group of scared passengers whispers to each other, two women in the back with us make phone calls to the people on the ground. One lady called the headquarters of the airline we are flying with and another lady called her husband who just so happens to work for the president. After they finished making their phone calls, gossip starts to spread around the plane that two airplanes crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York. I don’t know what this has to do with our plane, but I’m guessing it’s all connected. The adults are trying to be careful when they talk so that us kids won’t hear them, but we can hear everything.

I overheard some of the adults say that the plane crashes at the World Trade Center were done on purpose and that this is all a big terrorist attack. If that’s true then does that mean that our plane is next? Are we…are we gonna die? Am I…am I gonna die? I am so scared right now. This morning I was the happiest kid in the world and now I’m scared because I…I think I’m going to die. My eyes are starting to water a bit. I’m starting to cry because I’m afraid and sad, I don’t want to die. What about my mom and dad? What about my sister and brother? What about my friends? I don’t wanna lose them all.

The plane has now started flying even lower than before and it’s still going very fast. I feel so helpless and don’t know what to do. Maybe there’s nothing I can do. I am only a kid after all. My parents always taught me that in tough times I should say a prayer because God will always guide me and keep me. Dear God, please let me make it out of this. We all just want to go home and if we don’t make it out of this, please take care of my family and friends and let them know how much I love them. If this flight is the last breath I take, then please take my soul right after. The nice passenger lady is sitting to the right of me and the pretty flight attendant is sitting to my left. They both are praying with me, comforting me and holding my hands on what looks to be our last ride. I woke up this morning and was headed on a journey that would be the time of my life, but now it looks like this may be the end of my life. I don’t know why, all I know is how, right here and now as I am surrounded by my fellow passengers who are in fear, but praying as they hold on to dear life.

The plane is now getting lower again. This time it is so low that it feels like we are eye to eye with every building that we fly past. The screams of my fellow passengers have started to pick up again. As everyone screams we are holding on to something. The back of a seat, our neighbors hand, a bible, a picture of a loved one. This is it, I’m going to die now. I’m only a kid, but I’m going to die. Please God, take care of my loved ones. I can see a big building up ahead. It’s getting closer and closer. In the beginning I told you that you didn’t need to know my name, you just needed to know my journey. Well my journey has come to an end, so now you can know my name. My name is Tuesday, September 11th, 2001.

~~This story is dedicated to all the children who died in the attacks of September 11th, 2001.