读者�9/11/01剧院
��最后一个受害者
刚刚发生了什么？
发生了什么事？
我坐在我的书桌上写这该死的文章。
突然间，我发现自己置身于这个雾蒙蒙、明亮的地方。
我在哪儿？
我在做梦吗？ Is this a dream?
好的。我现在醒了。
我上班要迟到了。
我必须提交那篇关于“园艺”的文章
by noon time. (停顿)
我在哪儿？
I see ambulances. 消防车。
这里满是灰尘。
啊!啊!啊!啊! (停顿)
现在几点了？
我应该在下午6点之前去接我女儿。
I can�t forget this time.
否。 又不是。
为什么,沙龙?
她为什么被送去医院？
她的脸怎么了？
她的胳膊吗? 他们在哪里？！
哦,不。
I need a mirror.
I was just in my office.
现在它已经不在那里了。 （Itzel）
Mommy said I didn�t have to go to school
today, which usually excites me.
I hated my teacher and still hadn�t made
many friends at my new school in the
布朗克斯。
She said we�d be going out for some
ice cream but looked sad, really sad.
我想一定是什么东西在
她整个上午都在看电视。
We went to Baskin Robbins and I
got two scoops of my favorite
flavor, Rocky Road.
We sat down and Mommy went really quiet
盯着我看了一会儿。
她在哭，但我仍然不知道为什么。
然后她终于出来了，说：“爸爸
wouldn�t be coming home from work.� (Kyle)
I hate math. 我讨厌这个老师。
When are we going to move on to language arts?
That�s my favorite part of class because I�m in the
最高阅读组！！ Ouuuhhh the phone!
I wonder who�s calling? Wait why does my teacher
look so shocked? 那是什么？
word she just said? Hijacking? What�s going on?
Is that fear on her face? 一些东西
bad must be happening because Ms. Boylin�s
面部表情永远不会改变。 我讨厌这个
类。 （Harmoni）
那天早上我妈妈叫我起床
就像平常的早晨一样。
我下楼去找她
at the television.
一些建筑物着火了。
My mother looked concerned.
但我更担心
为什么要看电视
was on at all.
当我上学的时候
my third grade teacher
asked the class for
默哀片刻
for all the people in the Twin Towers.
I didn�t know what she meant.
I didn�t know for a long time.
也许我永远不会真正知道。 (Tim)
操场在那天显得特别显眼
when I overheard a 5th平地机
对另一个人低语
�Did you hear? 有人
ran a plane right through some towers
in New York!�
好一个故事！ 我想——
but the teacher tears I noticed
when I got to class were real –
the words crept
进入我的心
and never left
I felt the smoke
fill my soul
当我们被告知这个悲惨的故事时。 (瑞文)
我的闹钟尖叫着要我起床。
我坐起来，当我的身体慢慢开始跳动时，我感到一阵眩晕
朝浴室走去。 这是
安静。 It was never supposed to be this quiet.
My mother wasn�t yelling at my
姐妹和我快点。 我的阿姨和
uncles weren�t slamming doors as they
赶着去上班。 我看
看着我的姐妹们还在睡觉
tried to get a few more minutes of
梦想和我等待。等着。 等待
让我妈妈闯进来
the door screaming, �Come on get up!
穿好衣服! We�re going to be late!�
Ten minutes passed and the only thing
I heard was silence. 我打开
the bedroom door and headed for the
厨房。 我原以为会有
鸡蛋和豆子的味道
I was greeted by a note on the
refrigerator door that read: �Had to
早走。 Have fun at school. 午餐
在桌子上。� signed Mama yTios．
我看了看桌子，没有看到午餐。
我妈妈一定是忘了，而我
那时我就知道今天会
过糟糕的一天。 （Adilene）
我永远不会忘记那一天；感觉就像
一切都改变了。 那时我18岁，我被唤醒了
是我朋友打来的电话
我���!We�re being attacked.�
我半醒半醒地问：“怎么回事？”�
我的朋友兴奋地说：“狗，他们正在下降
美国到处都是炸弹和垃圾
�什么?� I reply.
飞机从天上掉下来，炸弹不断
在华盛顿下降了。
通过�来。 我们抽根烟，看着这破事！�
DFAC新来的士兵看到飞机坠毁
在电视上
“他妈的开始了！”� (查尔斯)
透过玻璃看到的是什么？
是我还是你？
我看到的是肉体的残余还是一个想法？
不管是什么，
它有它的目的。
不只是一个目的，而是很多。
这个和那个，我和你
都在反思这一点。
这个想法变成了现实
这样每个人都能看透它
看他们前面的杯子。 (卡梅隆)
图书馆里的电视播放了这则新闻。
我在地球的另一边看着。
安全的。
我看到了烟。 我听到了尖叫声。
America was falling.
美国，伟大的国家。The land of hope, prosperity
还有第三世界国家人民的梦想
就像我现在的处境一样。
America, the home I longed to return to.
发生了什么？ (凯瑟琳)
轮到我荡秋千了
when the loud speaker calls me to the office.
Daddy is there waiting. 他说该走了
首页。 I try telling Daddy, but it�s my turn
to plan on the swings. 他就是不理我
and the office lady says, �I understand sir.�
他紧紧握住我的手。
他把我领到车那里。 我跺着脚，撅着嘴。
爸爸太不公平了。 He doesn�t talk about why
he�s pulling me out of school today. 爸爸，我能去吗
回学校？� “不，”他说。我看着爸爸学习
靠在后院的门上，掏出一支烟。
他点燃了它，吹了吹。 他又接到一个电话。
�Yeah � on the news � I saw the plane. 是的�
她在这里“很安全”
爸爸又吹了一声，倾斜着身子，烟雾扑面而来
飞向天空。 有两支香烟面对面
肩并肩向上，天空依旧灰暗。 (玛丽亚)
(我4th年级自我)
今天是我要和比结
他穿着绿色的实验服，留着橙色的头发，还有
a red nose and tells the class that I�m the leader,
But when I walk into class something
变化
吉尔伯特先生催促他的四年级学生
韦斯特夫人的课。 我们坐在电视机前。
我看着他们的脸，吉尔伯特先生和韦斯特太太的脸
they look shocked, horrified. They say, �This
正在纽约发生 我想知道，怎么做到的
far is New York from San Jose?�
I finally look at the TV.
飞机。
烟雾。 火。
另一座塔有
飞机、烟雾和火焰。
我看着吉尔伯特先生，他的手放在手上
嘴巴和眼睛都盯着电视机。
If he�s scared, I want to go home.
我要知道这里有个家。 (特蕾西)
当电视在教室里大声播放时
声音最清晰的是那个叫凯里的孩子
带着面具在教室里跑来跑去
他是在看新闻的时候说的
谈谈燃烧的建筑物。 凯里开始
making gremlin-like noises – and yells, �I�m a terrorists.�
Mrs. Near is no longer the soft-spoken
teacher we knew. 尼尔太太现在是演练的对象
中士。 她喊道：“凯里，你被停职了。”·班级
快照沉默。 它应该是安静的。 (本杰明)
我记得我不明白
电视从来没开过
从来没有在早晨
but my cereal was the same so I
决定不再害怕。
I remember my father shaking
我记得没有人解释
我的早餐选择早已改变
�我仍然不理解。 (凯特)
我不知道为什么我妈妈
was crying that morning.
I poured my cereal and sat
倒在前面的地板上
the TV when I saw the black
烟雾从这些塔中升起。
电影真的是那样吗
sad? When I saw the red-
headed news lady I thought, the
飞机，火灾，坠机
all must be real. �There�s been
an accident,� she said packing
my brothers and me into the car.
我无意中听到她打电话
apparently her cousin was in
纽约，不管那是哪里。
Had the plane hit him too? (Sofia)
No one had ever sat me down and told me what darkness looked like
I guess I was too na�ve
too used to days on the placid playground and
分享温暖的微笑在阳光下。
妈妈的手抱着我的手，走回家
那一天
那爆发的声音，轰鸣着穿过我的耳朵
rattling in my head. I felt my mother�s hand slipping from my grasp
and collapsing my blissful vision. In tandem to the tower
碎片的羽状爬升，向上延伸，仿佛
it were reaching for God, reaching for an answer, asking why.
It spread higher, wider – blotting out the sun,
遮挡光线。
That day I saw firsthand what darkness looked like. (Anthony)
Woke up to watch the news.
Wanted to catch the weather.
Then I saw what I saw.
Mom came in. 去上学了。的事情
之后就安静了。
Then came the hate and rage. （Sukhber）
I walked into the living room to remind
Mama she had to take me to school.
她只是站在那里。 冻结。站
我在那儿看电视。 I think she might
一直在哭。 I looked at the TV
and didn�t understand what I was seeing.
妈妈在看电影吗？ 她通常
doesn�t watch movies in the morning.
I can tell something
是错误的。 I left the living
房间;I didn�t want to watch that movie
with Mama. It looked scary. She shouldn�t
have been watching something that scary
在早晨。
(Nicole)
As I am looking down, 80 stories above
everybody, I know I am going to die.
I don�t know what has happened, but
all I know is that I�m stuck on
the 80th没有出口的楼层。 我
walk towards a busted window
往下看。 我该怎么走？
跳吗? 或者我应该跳下去
现在进入火焰？ I�ll jump. (莫尼卡)
我被声音唤醒
我妈妈在叫我。
�Come out here,� she yells
我赶紧跑到客厅。
我妈妈在打电话
和我爸爸
her eyes wide as she stares
进入电视屏幕，
two buildings collapsing.
We are being attacked she tells me.
We are being attacked, I think.
We are being attacked,
and I shiver and watch the TV screen
and think this is not how America
应该是。 (凡妮莎)
2001年9月，我还没有手机
I was living and teaching at Western Carolina University;
the Smoky Mountains of rural western NC
使手机信号塔不可能出现。
I didn�t have a cell phone but as I
看了几个小时又几个小时的悲伤
重播,
heard those last word messages recorded
在手机上，
听到了“让我们滚吧”这句话
brave passengers on the flight that crashed
in a Pennsylvania field,
I knew I needed to get a cell phone
If I were on a plane taken by hijackers,
在撞向双子塔的飞机上
if I knew I would be dying,
我想打电话；
I would want to say, �I love you
� thank you� (Dr. Warner)
I was in middle school. 我得到了
准备好迎接新的一天。 As usual the television with the
morning news was on. 尽管如此,
这个特别的早晨
my parents were watching with an
陌生的能量。 我妈妈坐在那里
我爸爸站着。 我问
关于发生了什么。
他们说了些关于飞机的事
纽约，飞入高楼大厦，已经
劫持了。 我茫然地走开了
这一事件的重要性。
每个房间的电视都开着
那天的课。 老师们几乎什么也没说。
每个人都在看。 我记得
seeing people jumping from buildings. 我的
胃重复利用。 (莉莉)
(sixth grade English teacher, San Jose, CA)
当我坐在我的班级前面
试着向30个六年级学生解释
今天早上在纽约发生了什么事
当他们吃下一碗含糖麦片时，
我看得出来，他们无法理解其中的复杂性
在这种情况下。
我甚至不确定他们是否注意到了
直到我省略了“恐怖分子”这个词
于是窃笑和相互指责开始了。
在那一刻，我知道唯一的
message they would get from my morning�s lecture
was that in America it is okay to point the finger. (Brittany)
早晨红得像火
在纽约，但在BET9九州体育会员登录这里
it was casual with yellow sunlight
当我醒来时，才九岁
看到塔在冒烟
一会儿，听到了
我的父母担心的是和征兵
就像尼加拉瓜一样，就像我父亲一样
在70年代。
但我并不害怕，
我确信在阳光下
但是双子塔的烟雾
还有他们坠落的尘土
慢慢地吞噬着太阳。 (Emmanuel)
（从世贸中心员工的角度）
�Beep 哔哔声 哔哔声 哔哔声�
我还能请几天病假？
我想我没有用过。
Man, I don�t want to get up.
我喝得太多了
昨晚。
我应该大声喊出来吗
照顾你的宿醉？
不，我有太多事情要做。
也许洗个长时间的澡
会治好悸动。
I�m tired
拥挤的地铁。
I should�ve called in sick.
为什么这个女人在我耳边大喊大叫？
我应该打电话请病假的。
我唯一的安慰是
我的桌椅
也许今天不会那么糟糕。
那是什么声音！
Last time the ground shook
那么难,
我当时在旧金山
几年前。
那是什么味道？
为什么天黑了？
噢,不!
快!
滚出去!
我应该打电话请病假的 (Elle)
新闻播音员的声音渐渐大了起来
louder and louder.
我睁开一只眼睛，看见我爸爸坐在我的
躺在床上喝杯咖啡，看新闻。
他感觉到我的凝视，回头说，
看看那些疯狂的混蛋都干了些什么！�
我没看。 我在想为什么我爸爸
还在这里，没去上班。
我爸爸对新闻的唠唠叨叨
所以
我没有注意。
我揉了揉眼睛，想把鼻屎去掉
犹豫地盯着屏幕。
我的视力恢复后，我看到建筑物倒塌，
I saw people running, I saw smoke, I saw fire, I saw fear
我这辈子第一次，
我看到了战争。 (Jorge)
我不明白。
My dad was always up early.
但是我妈妈呢？
外面很黑。 她从来没有
在太阳升起之前起床。
她看起来很害怕。
我爸爸也是。
我爸爸很坚强。
我不明白。
我站在躺椅男孩后面，
看电视。
烟和火，人们在尖叫。
纽约市。
每个人都很害怕。
我不明白。
只是一架飞机和一栋楼。
我不明白。
在电视上，我们看
另一架飞机与第二座塔楼相撞。
大楼在我们眼前倒塌了。
那天我决定去上学。
我们也在那里看新闻。
我才刚开始th年级。
I didn�t understand
什么都可以。
我现在明白了。
但我真的有吗？ (Stephanie)
世界上有时会发生坏事，
别人也是这么告诉我的。
但我知道什么？
I am too young for the disillusionment to set in.
This news report means nothing to me other than
a few people dead.
Or a lot, but what�s the difference?
Numbers hold no weight to me.
So, teacher, what do you expect I�ll learn from watching this?
I can�t tell you what it�s like to die in a plane crash.
I can�t say what it�s like to transition from daily duties to death.
I can�t relate to losing the people I love most so abruptly.
I can�t imagine being assigned to such an attack, believing I am saving the world.
I can�t pretend to have been on the level of the politician
forced to explain to the masses, to take accountability, or to shift blame.
I can�t fathom the numbers.
And twelve years later, I still won�t.
But I will be able to tell you, truthfully, that depravity exists in this world. (Danny)
(perspective of a fireman)
Not enough men to help, how can we?
what can we do� I want to say nothing,
but I want to do something.
Don�t jump, please don�t jump.
We�re coming. We�re coming to save you. (Juan)
I heard my mother, fin the other room cry, �oh God�
as I tried to get my hair perfect for my 8th grade picture day.
Her voice sounded so helpless. So unlike her.
My brother and I went into the living room to check on her.
Her hand was over her mouth.
She was kneeling on the floor, her eyes glued to the TV.
I looked at the screen and I knew.
I knew this was bad.
�Come here, you guys,� she pleaded to us.
We kneeled next to her on either side.
Held hands.
And prayed. (Stevi)
I can�t hear myself think.
Sirens are blaring.
People are screaming.
I can�t see
through the dust and smoke.
The emergency responder volunteer card
is so much useless plastic
burning a hole in my pocket.
Through tears and coughs I struggle
towards the light
amidst the crowds.
I stop as people brush by.
Fear gnaws at my gut,
but I can�t go yet.
I turn around and run back
up the stairs.
My friends are still up there. (Brett)
I step onto the bus
and am transported.
Transported
to the cries of a previously unknown land
back east.
The bus chugs around the windy roads,
shifting gears between the words
planes hit � no
planes crashed
The country
shifting fears.
This unknown feeling starts bubbling
within me as we weave
in and out of signal
and newscast reports.
The bus steering
in and out of valleys,
collecting a small community of children.
It has been a long time since this town�s eyes
have shifted beyond
its wooded borders. (Kirsten)
I saw a plane,
a building, smoke,
crumbling�
I wake up.
I�m already late.
I run to school.
The classroom is silent.
Mrs. Wollerbeeke is standing in
front of the board.
She is speaking in a serious tone.
Something�s wrong.
She writes something on the board.
A writing assignment? I thought.
Not exactly.
She wants us to write a letter
giving our condolences to the families
of people who died in the crash.
�What crash?� I thought.
I asked a classmate,
�What�s she mean? �
I didn�t understand.
We wrote our letters,
however, I had no idea what to say.
What could I say?
What was I supposed to say?
We proceeded to our vocabulary lesson.
�Nonchalant�
new word of the day.
When I got home the TV was on.
My parents and sister were watching.
�What�s going on?� I asked.
�You haven�t heard!
There was a terrorist attack in New York.
It�s all over the news,� my mom said.
�Yeah, I heard all about it at school.
Our teacher had us write about it in class.�
�Well, it�s serious,� she said.
I didn�t know what to say.
What I supposed to feel?
I sat down and saw the smoke,
飞机，还有吞噬大楼的大火。
这是真的吗？
我妈妈看起来很紧张。
为了回应我的自满，她苦涩地说：
你表现得很冷淡。
“嘿，”我骄傲地说。
我今天在学校学了那个词
——妈妈冷漠地摇了摇头。
“她还太小，听不懂，”爸爸说。
I had no idea what that meant. (Samantha)