9/11 Short Stories

The echo of footsteps and labored grunts are the only noises heard on the pier during the last shift of the night. The vibrant resonance of fishermen selling their produce, children’s laughter and the chipper chatter of the townspeople during the day fades into the eerie silence of the night. Labourers busily aim to complete their tasks before midnight with the prospects of returning home after the long day. The last ship docks a little after ten. It is a smaller vessel which only took five people to unload yet the men go straight to work, devoid of making conversation. All of them stagger around wearily wiping sleep from their eyes, occasionally stopping to glare disdainfully at Brody.
Brody stands on an isolated part of the dock; he looks

In a flash the television captures his attention again. A possible witness is giving a description of the culprit. The monotone volume of the television soon seems too loud as the anonymous voice states “the suspect is approximately a 5’9” tall male with what appears to be dirty hair that is possibly blond, a large grey sweatshirt and a blue scarf”. Following that statement, the almost empty dinner seems far quieter than before. Jade promptly turns off the television when the commercials start and turns to Brody, jokingly exclaiming “that sounds just like you

Just as he is about to reach the door Jade calls out to him, “You can stay, if you like…. if you have no were to go”. Upon hearing Jades words Brody clenched his teeth and dark expression forms on his face as he grips the door handle tightly.
“Don’t pity me” he says in a warning tone. Although as Brody looks over his shoulder at Jade, with a glare, her face displays an earnest expression, with furrowing eyebrows and a slight smile as she looks down in guilt.
“I’m sorry” she whispers. Brody’s sighs at her apology, as he stands uneasily at the door for a few seconds, looking between the jade and the night. After a long pause he finally drags his feet towards the bar stool he was initially sitting on and slumps back down onto it.
Jade smiles at him with the traces of a sad look in her eye. “I see through you, better than you know, Alex…. The girl on the news, you knew her” Jade softly speaks looking into Brody’s eyes.
Brody nods, “Quite well” her whispers “She was” ….
“Special”, Jade finishes Brody’s sentence.
The corners of Brody’s mouth turn up as her looks down, “yeah… she certainly was” he