Narrative

9/11 Narrative

            It was a Tuesday morning at 8:15, and Jenny was walking to work.  She works on the 11^th floor of 1 World Trade at the Bank of America.  Like every other morning before work, Jenny stopped at the same Starbucks on Broadway and ordered her usual coffee.  She was friends with a woman who worked there, Sylvia, and started talking with her as her coffee was being made. 

“Anything new happening at work today?” Sylvia asked.

“Just another meeting with a new couple who want to invest in the Bank.  We’re meeting at Windows on the World today to discuss it.” 

            While telling this to Sylvia, Jenny was walking towards the door getting ready to leave.  After opening the door, she turned around to say goodbye to Sylvia, and didn’t realize where she was walking. 

            A man and a woman who were walking down the street ran right into Jenny and her coffee spilled down the front of her white blouse. 

“Oh!  I’m so sorry!” the woman said to Jenny.

“No, that’s ok.  I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

            The woman, who was wearing a bright red coat with a big red hat to match, apologized again and leaned over to pick up her golden bird pin that had fallen off from the collision. 

            Thankfully Jenny has an apartment close by and was able to get a cab to take back there before work.  While in the cab, Jenny called in to work and told her secretary to tell the couple coming in to meet with her that she would be about 20 minutes late.

*  *  *

            It was now 8:30.  Matt and Kristen were getting off the elevator on the 11^th floor of 1 World Trade. 

“We’re here for our appointment with Mrs. Gordon.  We wanted to check in here before going up to Windows on the World.”

“Oh yes, she just called about 10 minutes ago and wanted me to let you know that she will be about 20 minutes late.  She’s very sorry for the inconvenience,” the secretary told them.

Kristen and her husband decided that they would run over to a store across the street and pick up a gift for their daughter’s birthday while they were waiting.

Kristen turned to the secretary, “Ok, we’ll be back in 20 minutes.”

“Thanks for understanding.  By the way, I love you coat and hat!  Red is my favorite color.”

“Thank you very much,” Kristen said on her way out.  Her golden pin sparkling from the light let in by the large glass widows.

*  *  *

            It was 8:45 and Jenny was getting ready to leave her apartment again and catch another cab to 1 World Trade.  As she was grabbing her wallet she turned to check the temperature reading outside her window, and she couldn’t believe what she saw.  There was smoke rising up in the distance that seemed as if it were pouring out from somewhere.  She ran down the stairs leading to the exit and ran out to the street.  People had looks of horror on their faces and Jenny still had no idea what was happening.  She stopped an old man in the street and asked him if he knew anything, and he told her that a plane had just crashed into 1 World Trade.  Jenny was in disbelief.  If she hadn’t bumped into the couple in the street and spilled coffee on her shirt, she would have been at a business meeting at Windows on the World. 
            Kristen was thinking the same exact thing.  If the meeting had started on time, they might have been trapped in Windows on the World.  Neither of them realized that their paths crossed that day, and that one small event (spilling coffee) saved all of their lives.