A Day of Horror

As I sat on the 30th floor of the WTC trying desperately to concentrate on the watch orders in front of me; I had an eerie feeling that something major was about to happen. This feeling had been with me since the night before and I was unable to shake it. My name is Tandy Francis and I've worked at Seiko watches for three years and I love it.

I watched my co workers scurry back and forth laughing and joking but I could not join in. I was in a bad way and I did not know why. I could not get the feeling out of my mind and it was driving me crazy. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and then opened them to look out of the window. There was nothing unusual going on so what was this feeling? I sat for a few more minutes and then decided to get to work. I had lallygagged enough and Seiko Time Pieces wanted their orders processed. Today was 9/11 and I had a deadline to meet so I started to work feverishly.

As my work load started to diminish, I felt my uneasiness starting to lift. Just as I got up to stretch my arms and bend my body at my desk, I felt the building sway way over to the left. I went flying across the room and my plants, pictures, table and chair followed. When I shook my head and looked around, the building snapped back into place. This happened all in a matter of seconds and total k-os filled the room. People were screaming, running around in circles, and standing in one place holding their heads. The big bosses came down to assure us that all was well and we should go to the nearest conference room and wait for instruction but I had another idea. I gathered my things, took my heels off and pretended to follow the others.

I detoured and walked to the nearest exit when another impact of some kind hit the building and swayed it again. This time I was thrown up against a wall and hit my head. I was dizzy for a minute but once I got myself together, I ran to the exit and started down the stairs. My good sense told me that something was very wrong and to leave that building as quickly as possible. As I walked down the stairs I was joined by the very suits that told us to go to the conference room. I wondered if they even bothered to instruct the others to leave. Everyone was walking very swiftly and in no time at all we reached the lobby. There was glass everywhere, the shops were all in disarray, and panic was everywhere.

As I attempted to leave the building a guard stopped me and instructed me to wait. I couldn't understand why he did that but once he gave me the go ahead to run, I understood once I got outside.

There were body parts and debri everywhere and I had to hop scotch all the way down the street. The buildings had been attacked by planes and people were jumping out of windows above where the planes had hit. I had never seen anything like this and it scared me to death.

Once I stopped running I leaned against a building and sobbed. When I finally stopped crying I called my mom to let her know that I was ok and I went to the nearest hospital. I was hysterical.

I was given a sedative and told to stay there until someone was able to come for me. People were coming in with cuts and bruises, missing limbs and blood was everywhere. When I heard that the buildings had collapsed, I really lost it. I thought about all of the people who were probably trapped and most of all, my co-workers. I prayed that everyone got out safe.

My mom came to get me that evening and we went straight to a psychiatric doctor that lived in her building. He tried his best to calm me but the images of body parts and the thought of people jumping out of windows was too much for me. He suggested that I stay on the sedatives for a few more days and rest. He said only time would heal my pain and I agreed. Nothing that devestating could just go away with a few sessions with a doctor. Only time could possibly heal me.