9/11

It was the 5th anniversary of the attacks. I remember watching on TV, the gruesome images of the twin towers belching endless columns of smoke. A few months ago, when I first visited Ground Zero, I realised the magnitude of the damage. Most of the debris was cleared, of course, but there was a gaping hole in the ground where the majestic towers once stood. Looking almost out of place among the sky scrapers of downtown Manhattan.

Yesterday, as I sat on a bench at Exchange Place (NJ), gazing at the Manhattan skyline across the Hudson, I wondered what it must be like before 9/11/2001. The towers were almost twice as tall as the surrounding buildings, they say. As the golden glow cast by the descending sun over the city turned crimson, I decided to leave. I guess it will never be the same again. Neither for the people who lost part of their lives there nor for people like me who were not directly affected, but wished it had never happenned.

Later that night, I saw a faint indigo glow spread in my room. I swept the blinds away and saw before me, two powerful beams of light emerging from Ground zero, piercing the still night air and racing towards the heavens, to the abode of the 9/11 martyrs. May their souls rest in peace...