A beautiful day, but it's eerily quiet for downtown in the morning. Below Canal Street, no traffic is moving. There is never a thought that the buildings could fall, so you persist toward the fire. You stop occasionally to hear news broadcasts from open doors of cars stopped in the middle of Church street. Reports say the Pentagon has also been hit, and the White House too… No one knows how many planes are still flying…The bridges and tunnels are closed. The realization washes over that you are now trapped on an island, and are probably going to die, right here, in the street with all these other people. Chilled - paralyzed - numb. Look up, and gaze in helpless, terrified wonder at the spectacle of the end of the world. © 2011 Brandon Emerick Less