My knees buckled and I put a hand against the wall to steady myself. No … wait … it wasn’t my legs that were shaky … the whole building was swaying back and forth! The lights flickered, faded and then came back on again. “Dad … what … what happened? What’s happening?” He looked scared. My father never looked scared. He was always calm and cool and in control. I felt even more afraid seeing him look afraid. I staggered toward him as he moved toward me. He took my hand. “What happened?” I asked again. He shook his head. “I don’t know. The building is swaying.” We stood there and I could feel the building moving, gently, back and forth. It seemed to go on forever but really it was no more than ten seconds before it came to a stop. “Did the top of the other tower fall over … did it hit this building?” “I don’t know. I don’t know what happened.” Still holding my hand he pulled me along the corridor toward the shattered front doors of his office. A million tiny pellets of glass crunched under our feet as we stepped through the now open doorway.
