“Oh Shawna!” cried Mother, rushing into her daughters hospital room. “I was hoping that you hadn’t heard the news.”

“Oh Mommy!” Shawna cried. “Daddy is in that building!”

“Shawna,” said Mother. “You can’t get yourself all worked up like this. You have to stay calm.”

Mother switched the television set off.

“There,” said Mother. “That’s better. Now, I am going to call your Dad’s office and see if we can find out what is going on.”

Mother went down the hall to use the pay phone. She prayed that she would be able to get a hold of her husband. Right now, Shawna needed her Dad more than anything. As she passed by the nurses station, she noticed that the nurses were all gathered around the television set with looks of absolute horror on their faces.

“The towers are crumbling!” Mother heard one of the nurses scream.

“Oh my!” exclaimed Mother.

Mother hurried back to Shawna’s room. She felt that there was no sense trying to call her husbands office now. All she wanted to do was get back to Shawna’s room to be with her daughters.

“Did you call Daddy?” Shawna asked her Mother as soon as she got back.

“Mom,” said Tracey, noticing the worried look on her Mother’s face. “What’s the matter?”

“You didn’t get a hold of Daddy, did you?” asked Shawna.

“No, Shawna,” said Mother. “I didn’t.”

“How come?” Tracey asked.

Mother wished that there was an easier way of telling her two daughters that their father’s office building was no longer there.

“Shawna and Tracey,” said Mother slowly. “The reason I didn’t call your fathers office is because your fathers office building is no longer standing.”