I Remember.

There was nothing unusual about that day. It was still warm for September, but I reckon that was about it. The windows remained shut in Mr.Cooper's class and we were all waiting for our texts books to be delivered so we could start History. 

But something happened. Screams, wails, sounds of hysterical crying from nearby seemed to spread across the halls. Somehow I knew something big had happened, and a lot of commotion seemed to come out of nowhere. outside the room, suddenly the door opened and the whole class was taken to Ms. Lyons' classroom. For what reason, I didn't know, but everyone suddenly seemed to be dead silent.

Weeping, but still silent. I was around 10 years old at the time, and it's nearly been over a decade since, but seeing something so shocking and life-changing with the words 'LIVE' at the bottom of a screen can change everything. I was crouched on the ground surrounded by about 20 of my classmates, sitting right in front of this beat up 1970s coloured screen. I was watching the second plane crash into the second tower of the World Trade Center.

Some people laughed. Others cried. But mostly everyone stood or sat in shock. That's the one thing I remember, more than the colour or size of the explosion of the plane, or the buildings collapsing, or even going home (which to this day I can't seem to picture) or even having those tears stream down my face. It's something you expect to see in Hollywood movies, not at the age of 10. To see something like this happen on live television, it remains to this day the most shocking and vivid event I've ever witnessed.

It's as if time stood still. Someone behind me said "Wow", another had to be taken to the nurse, who I'm sure of now needed a nurse herself after seeing that. We all did. 

What's made me angry is not the attack itself, don't get me wrong. What made me angry after all these years is that I know that was the moment my childhood innocence was taken from me and came to an abrupt end.  At age 10, of all times to end. To see such utter devastation, complete carnage and chaos, and that amount of human suffering, it was something out generation should have never had to face.

I've also thought about why the teachers put us in that room to feel the need to let us witness something as horrific as this. It's the worse comparison I could ever want to say, but in a way it was like our generation's Moon landing, our freeing of Nelson Mandela, our Berlin Wall collapsing. Why were we made to see this?

But we did see it, one way or another. I'm sure the person sitting next to you, behind you, or near you seems to be able to picture where they were on 9/11. All I want to say is, that after nearly a decade since the event, after 10 years of growing up, I can say that this moment will forever remain a part of me, like a stain that never fades completely. But with time, this stain becomes less and less, as I'm sure whoever is reading this feels as well.