"It was the Chicago skyline. No doubt about that. Looking out over the city to the lake it was easy to recognize it.
"The time I had to take in the view was short. It was a first person view; I was over a building of some sort. My vision panned in on the top of the building, and then through it. I passed through multiple floors that flew by quickly. I would say I got about halfway through the building when I saw the bomb.
"It was big. Built into the wall, I could see wires running both up and down from it, most likely leading to other floors where more explosives would trigger and go off. I only had a few seconds to glimpse it before the explosion enveloped my vision.
"I swear I could feel the heat of it. I was zooming out, and as I did, I witnessed death. Not death like you see in movies; quick and special effects like death. This was agony. In any other situation it’d be considered torture, but the building had no soul, and bent to no one’s will except for the will of gravity.
"Three things really stuck with me from all the deaths I saw. One was a little girl; it must have been "Bring your Daughter to Work Day". The force of the explosion shot her out the window, 40 stories up. I followed her as she fell, all the way down, and the whole way I had to watch her face as she cried in anguish and fear as the air was ripped from her lungs as she screamed for her mother.
"When I approached the ground, I prayed; no, begged, to be veered off-course of the impending tragedy I sensed. But whatever force was having me witness this wanted no censorship, and I watched as the little girl hit the cement. Head splitting open, jaw coming unhinged and hanging as a tear mixed with the blood pouring from every orifice in her body, she expired with a horrid thud.
"I was slowly brought back up to the building where I saw the second of three people. A man, late 30's, was pinned to the ground. Fire had just reached his foot and he began to burn. I was forced to watch this for what seemed like hours; long after his screams ceased to exist. The smell. It can’t even be described in the typed words that are here now.
"The third and final interaction took place outside. I was pushed out of the window to follow an I-beam that was sheared in half, falling toward the ground. My vantage-point switched to the person who was watching it fall, in shock.
"The metal reached her faster than she could react and it cut her lithe form in half. Her blue jeans were quickly darkened and soaked with her blood, and the beautiful green polka dot shirt that she seemed to love so much was reduced to nothing more than a blood rag for her torso. I zoomed out slowly, to see the look of shock on her face as it began to fade, then watched as the last bit of life faded from her eyes...
"Faded from your eyes.”
I sniffled softly and rubbed a tear from my eye as I finished my story. I couldn’t talk to her about it this morning because it was just too much to deal with. But like the good wife she was, she called just before she got to work to check on me. She began to speak.
“Sweetheart, I’m sorry, I knew something was bothering you. I just didn’t know it was something so dark. We can talk more when I get home, but I really need to get to work.” She frowned and looked down at her green shirt. “After you telling me this story though, I really wish you would have told me this morning. I would have chosen a different outfit.”
I laughed with her and smiled, feeling much better having discussed it. “I love you sweetheart. See you soon?”
“I love you too. Bye, hun.”
Just before the phone cut out, I heard the explosion rip through the air over the phone's static.
Written by TonyRedgrave058
Content is available under CC BY-SA