War on a Saturday Afternoon By Judith Haney (USNewsLink)/
September 15, 2001 I just finished playing bridge with some friends. We spent the morning like most Saturday mornings, drinking coffee, eating one another's biscuits and homemade jam, chatting, joking and catching up. Today is like any other Saturday. The pace is slow, the television is playing in the background, my dog is lying at my feet. My back porch door is open and the smell of approaching autumn is wafting through the house. At night, I watch the sky. It is vacant and silent. The late summer moon is low in the sky. The stars twinkle alone in the heavens where the airliners normally travel with their port and starboard lights blinking in the distance. Nothing has happened this week in my placid environment to remind me of what occurred Tuesday in Washington, DC, and Manhattan, NY. Except something did occur about fifteen minutes ago. Out of the sounds of birds and wind flowing through my house came a horrendous noise. It was the noise of a low-flying jet overhead. My heart jumped into my throat. I began to feel panic and extreme fright. For an instant I thought we were being attacked. There is a military base in my city. It is a large one and it could become a target in war time. Although I know it is unlikely that my city will be targeted, there is always the possibility. I also know that any city can become a target of terrorists, not just mine. Any American can become a victim, not just me. Life in America, in my lifetime, will never be same again. War on a Saturday afternoon is a reality in America and I desperately want to survive and live the rest of my life in peace and tranquillity - the way it was before last Tuesday. I wonder if I ever will. |
