Tuesday {The Manhattan Trilogy #1}

Joy (T)

Sitting on this Murray Street bench, I think about many things. All different kinds of things. My two sisters, Caihong, my boss, Seven World Trade Center, both of the Twin Towers, the Pentagon. Some of those things are gone forever, to my dismay. However, some are still here with me, and that tiny bit of optimism makes me crack a smile.

I also imagine going home for the night. I need a lot of rest after the chaotic day I've had. My watch says it's already 7:30 PM, proving time really does fly, even on bad days. My entire body is aching from head to toe from today's awful events. Tuesday, September 11, 2001, is officially now the worst day of my short life, even worse than the day I fractured my thighbone in a terrible car wreck in Kansas at the age of fourteen.

"Trevor!" The voices of two young girls who I assume are twins shout behind me. Who are they, and how do they know my name? As far as I'm concerned, I'm not friends with anyone who has a set of twin daughters.

I turn to face the sources of the sound, and I gasp.

Those freaky twins, the ones that appeared to melt into the Twin Towers earlier, are standing there, staring right at me. They have the silver eyes, hair, skin, clothes, everything. Standing next to them are Nicole and Julia.

"Hey, Trevor. Just so you know, the people in this group are all spirits except for Nicole," Girl-Who-Looks-Like-North-Tower starts talking before I can even ask any questions.

"Are you definitely the man known as Trevor Davis?" Girl-Who-Looks-Like-South-Tower asks. "Your sisters say you are most certainly him. Seven World Trade Center, correct?"

"Y-Yes, I am Trevor Davis from the Seven World Trade Center," I stutter, jumping up to get a better view of my two female siblings. "Nicole! Julia! I'm so unimaginably happy to finally see you both after what all of us had to go through earlier today. Oh, Julie, I'm so very sorry you happened to perish in that terrible incident at the Pentagon."

"It's okay that I am dead," my twin sister responds, coming over to hug me. "I'm in a much better place now, Trevor."

"I'm glad you are, Jules," Nicole chimes in.

"One more question," I face the identical twin girls. "Who are you wonderful young kids who brought my sisters and I back together in the face of a horrific disaster?"

"I am North Tower Staten," one of them waves with a skinny hand.

"I am South Tower Staten," the other one says. Then, she adds, "We are obviously the spirits of the Twin Towers, if you didn't know already."

"I thought so," I responded. "You know, I saw you transforming into towers early this morning from the window of my office in Seven World Trade Center."

North Tower gasps and swears very loudly, kicking a stone on the sidewalk. "That was supposed to be private!"

"It's okay," South Tower puts a hand on her sister's shoulder. "What can you expect in a city that over seven million people call home? Plus, Trevor appears to be very nice and trustworthy."

"Thanks," I tell her. "You're right."

"No problem," she give me a thumbs-up.

"So how old are you guys?" I question the twins. "You don't seem to have lived a very long life, which is something I never like to see."

"As buildings, we were nearly thirty years old," North Tower replies. "But as humans, we were and are still eleven. I don't know why, but we just are."

"You're so young," I say, more tears coming to my eyes. "Just way too young to die in the horrific way you did."

"I agree with you, Trevor. Then again, like Julia said, we're in a better place now," South Tower explains.

"Besides, we can visit any place in this awesome country at any point in time," North Tower adds. "It's actually better than being alive, in my opinion. No offense to the two living people here."

"I'm sure you are both dying to get into the Kingdom," I gather the strength to smile. Everyone laughs at my joke, which is not really my joke, since it's a line my dad made up about getting into Heaven many years ago.

"Now then, where do the Davis parents live?" South Tower asks.

"Bixby, Oklahoma," my sisters and I announce in unison.

"That's where we're teleporting to next, I guess." North Tower tells her twin. She then turns to ask me, "Are you up for something of an adventure, Trevor Davis?"

"Yeah," I respond, "I suppose I could go for one more before I head home for the night. Lead us away, North Tower."