September 12th
Peter paced furiously, cursing at the cordless phone
in his hand. "Why am on on frickin' hold AGAIN?!?"
Egon looked up from where the television which had
been tuned to various news channels for over 24 hours.
"Because they are very, very busy."
"All I want to do is offer some help, you know? Let
them know we're willing to do whatever we can." Peter
kicked at an ottoman that interfered with his pacing.
"Peter, you've already written a check to the Red
Cross and all of us who could, gave blood." Ray bit
his tongue, wishing he hadn't brought up what had
already been a touchy issue.
Peter glared. "I still you should've just let me lie.
It's not like that rule about not having sex since
1975 is still necessary or applicable."
"Look, we all want to help, Peter. That's why we took
blankets and food down there and signed up on the
lists they were passing around. They know where we
are if they want us." Winston heroically attempted
not only to change the subject but to cheer Peter up.
All it accomplished was a fresh spate of curses.
"Peter, hang up the phone and put it down now."
Egon's voice held the chill of ten thousand years on a
glacier. Peter kicked the ottoman again and hung up,
dropping the phone on the abused piece of furniture
before tossing himself onto the couch next to Egon.
The blond scientist gathered him close, offering the
comfort of his body while not taking his eyes off of
the screen.
All of them jumped into the air when the phone rang.
Janine won the scrimmage for it. "Ghostbusters, we
believe you... Yes. Yes, they did all sign up to
help. They'll be there shortly. Thank you, and may I
say, your honor, I'm very proud to have you as mayor
and to be a New Yorker. Bless you, too."
"Where does he want us?" Peter was pulling the zipper
up to his chin while simultaneously strapping on his
proton pack. The other three were doing the same
while heading towards Ecto-1.
"Ground Zero."
--------
They drove as close as they were allowed to by the
crowds of emergency vehicles and would-be volunteers
before walking the rest of the way to where the two
towers had once stood. As one, they stopped, trying
to take in this horrific destruction. "Jesus Christ."
No one could be sure who said it, as they all felt
the same shock, the sense of wrongness. This was not
their New York City; this must be an alien land.
A fireman who looked exhausted beyond words came up to
them. "Ghostbusters. We need you down there. Here's
some hard hats and goggles. If your eyes start to
hurt, go to triage and get them washed out." With
that he turned, returning to the scene of devastation
and to the work of trying to find someone to rescue.
The four men did as ordered and followed in the
direction the fireman had gone, staring numbly at
their surroundings. They soon saw why they had been
called in. A bright, formless spirit was flying from
worker to worker, hovering in front of their faces for
endless seconds before moving on to the next. Several
of the workers had streams of tears emerging from
under the protective goggles.
"Don't hurt it." Another random fireman, this one
with some sort of rank insignia, looked up from where
he was working. "We don't know what or who it is. It
could've been anyone, including one of our brothers.
We don't want it hurt, we just want to know what it
wants."
Peter stepped forward, trying to attract the attention
of the spirit. It came to him, hovered in front of
him and then floated two feet away. His friends held
their throwers at the ready as Peter stepped forward,
following the ghost. It did a little loop in the air
that looked joyous then moved another three feet away.
As the Ghostbusters followed, it started to pick up
speed, coming to rest at a point just out of sight of
the main rescue effort. No matter where the guys
moved, it didn't budge from that spot.
"My turn." Before anyone could object, Winston moved
forward to where the ghost was hovering. As he drew
near it sank and Winston knelt down. "Guys! I hear
something!" All four threw themselves into digging,
shouting for other rescue workers to come as well as
shouting to whoever it was in the rubble to hang on,
keep talking, help was on the way.
After what seemed an eternity, they opened enough
space to see a sort of cavern in the rubble, and to
hear that the voice was a woman. "Help me, I'm
trapped and I don't know where my little girl is!"
One by one they entered and fanned out to search in
the dark for where the voice came from. The spirit
hovered behind them for a moment before floating over
to a dark corner. Winston was the first one there,
the others close behind. The woman was trapped by a
piece of concrete but appeared to be unhurt. All four
put their hands under the piece of rubble and lifted,
Ray letting go long enough to grasp the woman under
her armpits and pull her out before the concrete
dropped again.
"My little girl, we have to find my Beth." The woman
tried to stand up but the time she had spent trapped
had locked her muscles and she would have fallen
without Ray's assistance.
Everyone turned when they heard Winston's indrawn
breath. They saw that the previously formless spirit
had taken the shape of a six year old girl. Ray
swiped at the tears in his eyes as the woman they had
rescued tried to reach out for the ghost of her
daughter. She collapsed into tears, moaning that she
didn't want to live, that they should have left her to
die.
"No, Mommy." The ghost floated closer. "Mommy, I
know it's hard but you have to live. I'm with Daddy
now, and we're going to stay with you and watch you."
"I want to go with you, baby." The woman couldn't
hold back the sobs that shook her from head to toe.
"You have to live, mommy, because my little brother is
going to be very important. You're going to meet a
hero man who will love you a lot and you'll love him
and you'll tell my little brother all about his big
sister who takes care of him from heaven."
"Daddy, get help, I need more time." The ghost looked
at a point over Peter's shoulder and he felt a piece
of concrete the size of a nickel hit his arm. His
tone was nervous as he said, "Guys, we need to think
about leaving here."
"NO! I won't leave my child." The woman screamed,
trying to break away from Ray's protective hold and
sinking to a sitting position. "Bethany, come back,
baby."
The ghost put her hands on her mother's cheeks,
cupping her face in a loving hold. The mother brought
her hands up to hold the little hands there, tears
streaming as she tried to accept the unacceptable.
"Mommy, forever and ever, you can put your hands like
this and you'll feel me there, giving you all the love
you can hold. I'll be with you, always. God just
didn't want me to suffer anymore from the cancer, so
he took me a little early, that's all."
There was a rumble overhead. "You've got to go now,
they can't hold the walls much longer." Ray picked the
woman up and started heading out of the cavern, the
others following closely. Just as they would have
reached the surface, the ghost called to them to stop.
"The ones who helped my daddy hold the wall want me to
tell you something for them." She drifted to Ray and
hugged him around his neck with her ethereal arms.
"Your mommy wants me to tell you that she and your
daddy love you and always have. She says they're glad
their fuzzy ray gun has turned out so well."
Ignoring their shocked looks, she turned towards Egon,
floating in the air in front of him. "And your daddy
said," she folded her arms and scrunched her face up,
"I'm very proud of your work, son. You're a real
scientist. But you can get a more accurate reading
with the PKE meter if you tune the power output down
two cycles."
Egon's mouth automatically said, "Yes, sir" without
any guidance from his brain. Peter tugged him along
as Winston pushed Ray out of the tunnel and into
daylight. Just as Peter's boot cleared the entrance
and they were all safe, they heard the cavern they had
been in collapse. Bethany's spirit continued floating
upwards, waving goodbye.
The fireman who had warned them not to hurt the spirit
came running up to them and was distracted and
spellbound by the sight. He crossed himself and then
asked if he could take the lady to triage while the
Ghostbusters cleaned themselves up. They nodded and
went on their way, trying to sort out exactly what had
happened.
----
The end
And, well, I'm sorry if this offended anyone. I wrote it last year when the grief was still raw, and it helped. Don't know if I'll leave it up long, but it's just another little memorial candle in the midst of millions.
Peter paced furiously, cursing at the cordless phone
in his hand. "Why am on on frickin' hold AGAIN?!?"
Egon looked up from where the television which had
been tuned to various news channels for over 24 hours.
"Because they are very, very busy."
"All I want to do is offer some help, you know? Let
them know we're willing to do whatever we can." Peter
kicked at an ottoman that interfered with his pacing.
"Peter, you've already written a check to the Red
Cross and all of us who could, gave blood." Ray bit
his tongue, wishing he hadn't brought up what had
already been a touchy issue.
Peter glared. "I still you should've just let me lie.
It's not like that rule about not having sex since
1975 is still necessary or applicable."
"Look, we all want to help, Peter. That's why we took
blankets and food down there and signed up on the
lists they were passing around. They know where we
are if they want us." Winston heroically attempted
not only to change the subject but to cheer Peter up.
All it accomplished was a fresh spate of curses.
"Peter, hang up the phone and put it down now."
Egon's voice held the chill of ten thousand years on a
glacier. Peter kicked the ottoman again and hung up,
dropping the phone on the abused piece of furniture
before tossing himself onto the couch next to Egon.
The blond scientist gathered him close, offering the
comfort of his body while not taking his eyes off of
the screen.
All of them jumped into the air when the phone rang.
Janine won the scrimmage for it. "Ghostbusters, we
believe you... Yes. Yes, they did all sign up to
help. They'll be there shortly. Thank you, and may I
say, your honor, I'm very proud to have you as mayor
and to be a New Yorker. Bless you, too."
"Where does he want us?" Peter was pulling the zipper
up to his chin while simultaneously strapping on his
proton pack. The other three were doing the same
while heading towards Ecto-1.
"Ground Zero."
--------
They drove as close as they were allowed to by the
crowds of emergency vehicles and would-be volunteers
before walking the rest of the way to where the two
towers had once stood. As one, they stopped, trying
to take in this horrific destruction. "Jesus Christ."
No one could be sure who said it, as they all felt
the same shock, the sense of wrongness. This was not
their New York City; this must be an alien land.
A fireman who looked exhausted beyond words came up to
them. "Ghostbusters. We need you down there. Here's
some hard hats and goggles. If your eyes start to
hurt, go to triage and get them washed out." With
that he turned, returning to the scene of devastation
and to the work of trying to find someone to rescue.
The four men did as ordered and followed in the
direction the fireman had gone, staring numbly at
their surroundings. They soon saw why they had been
called in. A bright, formless spirit was flying from
worker to worker, hovering in front of their faces for
endless seconds before moving on to the next. Several
of the workers had streams of tears emerging from
under the protective goggles.
"Don't hurt it." Another random fireman, this one
with some sort of rank insignia, looked up from where
he was working. "We don't know what or who it is. It
could've been anyone, including one of our brothers.
We don't want it hurt, we just want to know what it
wants."
Peter stepped forward, trying to attract the attention
of the spirit. It came to him, hovered in front of
him and then floated two feet away. His friends held
their throwers at the ready as Peter stepped forward,
following the ghost. It did a little loop in the air
that looked joyous then moved another three feet away.
As the Ghostbusters followed, it started to pick up
speed, coming to rest at a point just out of sight of
the main rescue effort. No matter where the guys
moved, it didn't budge from that spot.
"My turn." Before anyone could object, Winston moved
forward to where the ghost was hovering. As he drew
near it sank and Winston knelt down. "Guys! I hear
something!" All four threw themselves into digging,
shouting for other rescue workers to come as well as
shouting to whoever it was in the rubble to hang on,
keep talking, help was on the way.
After what seemed an eternity, they opened enough
space to see a sort of cavern in the rubble, and to
hear that the voice was a woman. "Help me, I'm
trapped and I don't know where my little girl is!"
One by one they entered and fanned out to search in
the dark for where the voice came from. The spirit
hovered behind them for a moment before floating over
to a dark corner. Winston was the first one there,
the others close behind. The woman was trapped by a
piece of concrete but appeared to be unhurt. All four
put their hands under the piece of rubble and lifted,
Ray letting go long enough to grasp the woman under
her armpits and pull her out before the concrete
dropped again.
"My little girl, we have to find my Beth." The woman
tried to stand up but the time she had spent trapped
had locked her muscles and she would have fallen
without Ray's assistance.
Everyone turned when they heard Winston's indrawn
breath. They saw that the previously formless spirit
had taken the shape of a six year old girl. Ray
swiped at the tears in his eyes as the woman they had
rescued tried to reach out for the ghost of her
daughter. She collapsed into tears, moaning that she
didn't want to live, that they should have left her to
die.
"No, Mommy." The ghost floated closer. "Mommy, I
know it's hard but you have to live. I'm with Daddy
now, and we're going to stay with you and watch you."
"I want to go with you, baby." The woman couldn't
hold back the sobs that shook her from head to toe.
"You have to live, mommy, because my little brother is
going to be very important. You're going to meet a
hero man who will love you a lot and you'll love him
and you'll tell my little brother all about his big
sister who takes care of him from heaven."
"Daddy, get help, I need more time." The ghost looked
at a point over Peter's shoulder and he felt a piece
of concrete the size of a nickel hit his arm. His
tone was nervous as he said, "Guys, we need to think
about leaving here."
"NO! I won't leave my child." The woman screamed,
trying to break away from Ray's protective hold and
sinking to a sitting position. "Bethany, come back,
baby."
The ghost put her hands on her mother's cheeks,
cupping her face in a loving hold. The mother brought
her hands up to hold the little hands there, tears
streaming as she tried to accept the unacceptable.
"Mommy, forever and ever, you can put your hands like
this and you'll feel me there, giving you all the love
you can hold. I'll be with you, always. God just
didn't want me to suffer anymore from the cancer, so
he took me a little early, that's all."
There was a rumble overhead. "You've got to go now,
they can't hold the walls much longer." Ray picked the
woman up and started heading out of the cavern, the
others following closely. Just as they would have
reached the surface, the ghost called to them to stop.
"The ones who helped my daddy hold the wall want me to
tell you something for them." She drifted to Ray and
hugged him around his neck with her ethereal arms.
"Your mommy wants me to tell you that she and your
daddy love you and always have. She says they're glad
their fuzzy ray gun has turned out so well."
Ignoring their shocked looks, she turned towards Egon,
floating in the air in front of him. "And your daddy
said," she folded her arms and scrunched her face up,
"I'm very proud of your work, son. You're a real
scientist. But you can get a more accurate reading
with the PKE meter if you tune the power output down
two cycles."
Egon's mouth automatically said, "Yes, sir" without
any guidance from his brain. Peter tugged him along
as Winston pushed Ray out of the tunnel and into
daylight. Just as Peter's boot cleared the entrance
and they were all safe, they heard the cavern they had
been in collapse. Bethany's spirit continued floating
upwards, waving goodbye.
The fireman who had warned them not to hurt the spirit
came running up to them and was distracted and
spellbound by the sight. He crossed himself and then
asked if he could take the lady to triage while the
Ghostbusters cleaned themselves up. They nodded and
went on their way, trying to sort out exactly what had
happened.
----
The end
And, well, I'm sorry if this offended anyone. I wrote it last year when the grief was still raw, and it helped. Don't know if I'll leave it up long, but it's just another little memorial candle in the midst of millions.