On the day of September 11, 2001 a horrible incident happened in New York City, and to the whole United States of America. Closely affected was Stuyvesant High School, the specialized high school of math and science located a few blocks from the World Trade Center. In honor and memory of those who were victims or witnesses to the tragedy, from both Stuy and elsewhere, I would like to also dedicate this manga, METAL EMOTION SAGA, not only to the people who inspired me to create it, but especially to members of the Stuyvesant community and others who experienced lost or saw the pain in other people that day. Many of us wished we could have done something to prevent this disaster in some way. And so do the characters in the story you are about to enter, care to prevent their own disaster.
Thank you,
Shing
METAL EMOTION SAGA
This is one of those things that happens to OTHER people. Literally. You read
about it in books, you see it in movies, but it's always distant. It doesn't
touch you. Nothing can happen to you. But it does anyway.
My father works (or I guess worked) in a building that was across the street
from the WTC. That he is alive and perfectly well can only be attributed to
the incredible work of the police and firefighters. Never have I heard im
speak of anyone with as much respect as he does of them right now. While they
were leading the people from the building my dad worked in away from it, they
themselves stayed behind. In fact, they went deeper in. Between my dad's
building and the WTC there's a small parking lot with a tiny tiny church it.
When they walked out, the lot was on fire. The poles that hold wiring and
such were on the ground, cut down by the flying debris. As he walked, my dad
saw pieces of buildings, chairs on the ground. Pieces of dead bodies. I won't
list all the crazy shit that happened, but suffice it to say that the
building he worked in now has practically no roof and a burning set of top
floors. At least, last we saw it on TV. It might be even worse now.
My grandfather was on the 91st floor of the Twin Tower that was hit second.
After the first hit (no one knew what the hell was up, of course, but they
were told to get out anyway) he slowly, calmly went to the elevator. Anyway,
he got down ok, and when the second plane hit, he was just on his way back up
to get something he forgot. Clearly after the second hit he left, and by the
time the second tower fell he was halfway across the Manhatten Bridge. Once
again, he got out thanks to sheer luck, basically.
Today I was looking at a book that I bought in Borders last Thursday. Now the
store doesn't exist. My grandparents were over today (it was my dad's
birthday yesterday. One hell of a gift, huh?), and my grandpa said that he
read somewhere this: "Nothing is as empty as the sky where a tower stood." He
read it in Russian, so in translation to English some zing is lost. But the
idea remains. One of the greatest accomplishments of human history, in my
mind, is now lost to us. I don't even mention the thousands of people who are
dead and the tens of thousands injured, emotionally as well as phisically.
Sure, it can be said that tragedies strengthen us, bring us together. And in
this case it's true, New Yorkers are donating blood, working day and night.
We are brought together, but at what cost, huh? Maaaan... As Ethan said
before, someone has hell to pay.
My deep thoughts ran out. I remember the expression on Danny Norat's face
when I tol him that the second tower fell. It was not an expression I liked,
and not an expression I want to ever cross the faces of our children.
Contact me at:
ektrekker@mailcity.com
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