My First Abortion

Working Title



By: Robert Eckert



Book One: The Reality



_1



"Did you hear what happened?" I work in a small closet that they some how fit cubes in, no one miss me entering. I suspect the goon they hired a year ago finally went nuts and punched someone in the face.

"No, what?" I see CNN up on Dave's computer. I realize, before they say anything that it has nothing to do with work.

As Dave says "They attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon." I think about the faces I saw on the way up from parking. This guy, Blaze, who's always smiles and sunshine looked like someone shit in his mouth that morning. Kristen drove herself in this morning and so I had the tape deck instead of NPR.

"Who?" My first thought was Russia for some reason. On the heels of that, I remembered we haven't been in the cold war for ten years.

"Terrorists or something. Nobody knows." I walk to Dave's computer and there's a shot of a tower smoking.

"Holy fuck." I can't believe it, I mean, everyone's so calm. Don't they know that we could be next? How far reaching is this? I mean, Seattle's done for, what about Issaquah? Would they attack a giant wholesaler? It is a corporation?!

Nah, that's crazy thinking. I'm safe. Safe at my desk.

I put my bag down and turn the computer on and use Kristen's signon to get onto the internet.

I punch in CNN.COM. I realize that this is the first time I've looked at the news online.

I've never been that interested. Kristen would always get a paper, and if I was bored enough I'd check the front page and the last time I did that was when they were talking about those Buddhist shrines that were blown to bits in Afghanistan and how some Islamic regime was responsible. And, I remember them naming the group as being behind those attacks on the that Navy ship or something and several other things.

I realize then who the enemy probably is.

It begins to seek in. Not since the turning of the year 2000 have I thought about terrorism. Everyone was so sure they'd blow up New York that night, and they tried.

But, now? What the hell? It's September 11th. What's the significance?

How does this effect me? Does this have anything to do with that weird trip to White Center? Was that some sort of sign of this?

CNN comes up and I look at the time it happened. Crap, what was I doing then? I was getting up. Did I have any dreams last night about towers or bombs? What? It's airplanes?

"They flew an airplane into the tower?"

"Yeah, and into the Pentagon."

"Good lord." I look for a death toll and ask "How many are dead?"

"Don't know."

I realize I need to share this moment with my girlfriend. I call her. "Dude, are you seeing this?"

"Yes. It's awful."