“Wha..?” she said, struggling to open her eyes to the harsh morning light that knifed through the slats of the bedroom’s wooden blinds. “What time's it?” she slurred, her eyes burning.
“Umm... I, I don’t know, six something” he responded, the small flatscreen television they kept on the dresser opposite their king sized bed snapped on, the hectic sounds of talking heads blaring into the once still room. It's too early for this, she thought as she rolled over onto her side, propping herself up on an elbow, her down pillow crushed beneath her. “Something’s happened,” he said, his voice strained with worry. She felt him sit at the foot of the bed as the volume decreased to a level she could withstand. “Something big.”
Her eyes opened to see Seth sitting on the edge of the bed staring at the television, beyond him was a city on fire, black smoke rising into the air. The words WASHINGTON D.C. LIVE - CNN emblazoned across the screen, the scrolling ticker underneath displaying last night’s sports scores as if they still mattered. “Oh my god,” she muttered. Glancing back towards her, Seth spoke, “It’s on every channel.” An aerial view of the Capitol Building engulfed in flames. Dark smoke pouring from its shattered windows and then the white obelisk of the Washington Monument, its reflecting pool aglow with an amber red.
“It’s now 9:47 am, eastern time,” a man’s grim voice played over the small set’s speakers, as the scenes of destruction ran on a continuous loop. “It truly boggles the mind, to try and come to any understanding of what we’ve seen playing out here this morning, in the streets of the capital and elsewhere around the world. Pure terror cannot ful... hold, hold on, we’re getting something.” The Anchor’s voice paused for what seemed like an eternity to Danielle. “We’re taking you, now, to our correspondent, Patricia Munoz, live at the main gate of the White House. Patricia?”
The scenes of destruction, fire, and smoke, are suddenly replaced with that of a thin hispanic woman wearing a black pencil skirt and ivory blouse, the White House in the background. Just behind the main gate, two secret service agents in black suits holding submachine-guns, survey the gathering crowd. The sky lit with the same amber pall of the reflecting pool.
“Oh my god,” Danielle said, clutching the sheet under her chin as she watched the horror unfold on TV, a nervous anxiety tightening her chest. This can’t be happening.
“Patricia, tell us what you're seeing down there,” the Anchorman said.
“Its... ike...a... arzone,” the reporter answered as the feed flickered in and out before stabilizing. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” the reporter said, her voice faltering as a terrible screech ripped through the television’s speakers, a gust of wind buffeting her violently. The camera shook, and the screen went black only to be replaced by the red and white CNN logo, leaving Danielle and Seth sitting there in abject silence. The madness of the news report standing in stark contrast to the complete stillness of their bedroom. Danielle’s mind careened about, her thoughts an incomprehensible jumble of emotion and fear. As terrifying as the television had been, the silence was even more maddening.
“Try another channel,” Danielle urged. “Maybe one of them.”
Seth flipped through the channels, one after another all blank except for their respective logos. “Fuck. They’re all down,” Seth said shaking his head, frustration edging into his voice. “I don’t get it. How’re they all down?”
“What do you mean they’re all down,” she said. “How is that...”
Seth stood, silencing her with a look as he glared at her with the icy blue eyes she once found kind and charming all those years ago when they had first met. Now they looked like the eyes of a monster, wide and bloodshot. His handsome face replaced with that of a shaving cream smeared impostor of the man she had loved for most of the last decade.
“You tell me!” he said, throwing the remote across the room to shatter against the closet door. “I don’t know, you saw the same goddamn thing. How the fuck would I know?!” His finger jabbing at space in-between himself and the television set.
Danielle just sat there as he yelled from the foot of the bed, her thoughts darting from anger to sadness, from love to hate, kindness to loathing. Her mind overloaded with everything she had seen and heard. The world was going to hell. Who knew, how much time anyone had left. And this is how he acts. How dare he, she thought, motherfucker.
“Oh shit,” Seth said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mea...”
“Get out,” she said under her breath. “Get out!”
He just stood there, shock across his face. “I’m sorry.”
“Get out! Get out!” she screamed, sobbing. “Get out get out get out get out. GET OUT!” She sent her pillow flying at him, only to have him snatch it out of the air.
Through tear-blurred eyes she saw him drop the pillow onto the foot of the bed, turn toward the door and freeze, his arms going limp at his sides. Oh no, Danielle thought as she turned toward the door to see their nine-year-old daughter, Cassie, standing there, trembling in her yellow pajamas. The small girl desperately clutching at her favorite stuffed animal, a dog she had named Maxx.
“Cassie,” Seth said, walking towards the girl. “Mommy and Daddy are jus...”
The small girl turned without saying a word and fled back down the long hall to her bedroom, slamming the door behind herself. “Cassie,” Seth called after her, following her out of the room. “Honey, hold on a sec.”
A part of Danielle longed to jump up out of bed and rush after them, take them both in her arms to tell them it was going to be all right. That it didn’t matter. But no matter how much it hurt just to sit there she couldn’t find the strength to do it. She just sat there looking aimlessly around the room, none of it making any sense anymore. The world was on fire, and so was she.
Goddammit, Danielle thought to herself as her eyes settled on the broken remote sitting on the floor to her left, she can’t see us like this. She wondered if their relationship was just as broken as the smashed television remote. Had they lasted too long, were they just waiting for some metaphorical giant to come along and smash them into a thousand tiny pieces? Sometimes she hoped they were, but even now, after this terrible morning she longed for the past, just wishing that they could go back in time and begin all over again. Those were the good days, she thought smirking as she used the bed sheet to wipe the tears out of her eyes. The good old days when she couldn’t have imagined a world in which Seth could have possibly cheated on her. Not that she knew he was having an affair now. She had no proof, no text messages or emails, just the suspicion that had been growing in the back of her mind. Just this feeling that he wasn’t being completely honest with her anymore, that he was hiding something.
Seth’s muffled voice carried down the hall and back into the bedroom as Danielle was climbing out of the bed. He was undoubtedly busy calming Cassie down, making everything right in the child’s world again. No matter how upset she had ever gotten Seth could always cheer her up. It was a connection shared between father and daughter that had always left Danielle feeling a little jealous, a little left out. She doesn’t need me, Danielle thought, all she needs is her Daddy.
Danielle walked into the hall, the laminate wood flooring cold under her bare feet. The hushed voices of father and daughter drifting into the hall. She continued towards her daughter’s bedroom, morning light pouring through the open door, passing framed pictures of smiling faces that hung on the wall. Our faces.
She stood in the doorway just outside the room hugging herself for warmth in the cool morning air. For a moment she just stood there listening to them, Seth smiling at their daughter. Cassie laughing back, the terror from moments before seemingly forgotten.
“How’s about some breakfast? huh?” Seth said, standing up. Cassie throwing the covers back and looking towards the door, towards her mother. The girl smiling as they made eye contact.
“Mommy,” she said excitedly. It was all Danielle could do to hold back the emotions that flooded over her. Danielle’s cheeks felt wet as the small girl ran towards her, throwing her tiny arms around her mother’s waist. Looking down at her daughter, she put one hand lovingly atop Cassie’s head and smiled. “I love you, Cass,” reaching her other hand out toward her husband who was standing there hands at his sides, a contrite look on his face. “I’m sorry,” he mouthed silently as he embraced his wife, their daughter caught in the middle.
They stood there for what seemed like an eternity, raw emotion flooding out of Danielle, intermingling with Seth’s. And at that time nothing else mattered to her. Not the burning buildings, not the fight, nothing. For just that moment, she felt like the world was as it should be. Whatever was going to happen, their family would survive it, and that was all that mattered to her.
