too sad to talk about

too sad to talk about

fiction
edward w pritchard

With respect and sadness for victims of 09-11-2001

High up, 80 or more stories after the 09-11-2001 explosion a man is trapped alone. The stairs are gone, the building is swaying about to fall and the man, a trained engineer knows soon the structure will soon crash heavily to the ground. He has no communication with earth below and knows he must act quickly or die.

Wrapping himself in a ball in mattresses, ingenuously securing the mattress ends so they will remain intact in his descent to earth, the man plunges from the window toward the cement below intensely focused on his immediate future.

Insignificant in the scheme of things, alone in his plight, the man listens to the wind as he plunges toward the ground and although a trained scientist prays for friction's assistance over his arch enemy gravity and solid reality below.