The Regret

One...

Things haven't been easy for Jim and his family since the recession; they've lost their home and their jobs but luckily his wife has always been there as a pillar of strength and support for them as they go through rough times.

As the months progressed, they finally found an apartment that they could afford which was nothing like they expected. It was a large downgrade to their style of living but it was home. Jim also found a job working as a bookkeeper in a financial firm although it wasn't a high paying job that he used to have, it was something and something those days was definitely better than nothing.

One day he woke up late, his alarm didn't go off so he wen't off on her instead. Blaming her for not waking him up and then adding some petty little mistakes from the past just to fill the void. They argued so loud that it woke up their 5 year old daughter Dana. She stood there with her big round blue eyes and pouty lips just staring at both of them looking as if she was about to cry. He walks away towards their bedroom while his wife attends to their traumatized daughter, telling and convincing her that her mommy and daddy were just trying to have an adult conversation.

A few minutes after, Jim comes out of the bedroom ready for work but was still upset at his wife. He walks pass by her and her daughter without saying a word. As he shuts the door to leave, his daughter yells out "I love you daddy!" But unfortunately, it fell on deaf ears, he completely ignores her and slams the door to their face.

He arrives to work a few minutes late. Things were busy in the office that day when all of a sudden, a loud explosion was heard throughout the office that seemed to had come from the floors above them. It shook the entire establishment to its core. Things that hung from the walls fell then a streak of power surges followed afterwards. People began to panic and started running towards the elevators. Jim looked out the window when he noticed the neighboring skyscraper was on fire. The first thing that came to mind was to call his family. Although terrified, he kept calm and composed as he tries to leave a message to his wife and daughter, assuring them that he was ok. Then he ran as fast as he could but realized that the elevator might not be the safest way to go at that time so instead he went down the stairwell which was 90 stories high.

As he was making his descent, the building began to rumble as if it was about to collapse. People were screaming, crying and some just gave up and sat by the side of the stairwell talking on their cellphones, saying their last goodbyes. He wanted to stop and help but a stampede of people making their way down the stairs made it impossible to do so. Finally he was on the 3rd floor and a few more steps, he'd be outside the building but then the unthinkable happened, the building finally collapsed and the last thing he saw was the door leading to the lobby.

When he woke up, he found himself lying on the side walk. He could barely see anything due to the thick cloud of dust and smoke; he could hear people around him crying and screaming for help. There were sirens everywhere; the police, firefighters and EMT's where running around trying to help those in need. He grabs one of the EMT's passing by and asked him what had happened but he just blew him off and went on his way. He yells out loud asking what had happened but nobody seems to have the time to answer his question. He slowly tries standing up thinking he might have some broken bones or something but fortunately, all he finds on himself was a few scratches and a lot of dust that covered his entire body as if he poured baby powder onto himself. He walks away to a place that was clear and away from danger and as he did, he looks back and thought how surreal that moment was. The skyscrapers were no more, only a pile of rubble remains.He flags a cab passing by so he could go home but they weren't stopping. Instead, he walks home which was roughly about 3 miles away. He pulls his cellphone from his pocket to call his wife but she wasn't picking up.

When he finally arrived, he rushes towards a flight of stairs to their apartment so that he could give his family a great big hug and apologize for what happened earlier. He was happy and thankful to be alive. He opens the door and the first thing he sees was his wife and daughter embracing each other while sitting on the couch; he noticed both of them crying, seems to be devastated by the horrible tragedy that occured. As he walks towards them, his cellphone rings and to his surprise, it was his wife calling. Confused, he looks over at them as he answers her call. What happened next was something he never expected, an overwhelming sense of sadness strikes him right through the heart. Once he heard her voice, part of him already knew that something horrible happened, as if his entire soul had been pulled away from his body, he fell down on his knees sobbing as he listens to her. The reception was terrible but he could hear her breathing heavily and sobbing with their daughter crying in the background. First thing she says to him was that he forgot his lunch because he was so upset that morning. He tries to stop her from talking while repeatedly apologizing to her and then tells her that they need to come home. She could barely talk afterwards and he could feel their pain and agony as she continues to talk to him; she tells him that they went to his office to drop off his lunch and hoped that they could patch things up. He could hear her panting and as she vents out her final words, she starts apologizing and tells him that they love him so much, before he could say anything the call gets disconnected. He looks back to where he found them sitting down at but they were gone.