- When the world was falling apart, they came together. In the first dark hours of September 12th, 2001, five college freshmen stay up all night in a dorm room confronting the promises of youth that have been severed by national tragedy.
- September 11th was a day we'll never forget, but what will we remember? In the first dark hours of September 12th, 2001, five college freshmen stay up all night in a dorm room confronting the promises of youth that have been severed by national tragedy.
- On September 11, 2001, one of the TV morning shows has breaking news. The man announcing it never says what has happened, and even the video he promised is not ready.
It is nearly midnight and four freshmen at a college described as not quite Ivy League are watching the news on TV in the dorm room belonging to some of them. Actually, Lynz and Shelly are in bed and not really watching anything. But they get out of bed and at some point there seems to be no more point in watching the news. Dish, who is Black, enters the room dressed in his ROTC uniform. It has been quite a day for him.
The group decides to get pizza. They also have beer and drink a lot while waiting. What else is on besides news? Should they watch a movie? No, because anything they watch will be tainted by the events of the day. And so the students start talking about anything and everything. Eric's Little League team, and the kid who won the game but only after doing something embarrassing. What "normal" will be like, or if it is ever possible for life to be normal again. Religion. Race. Food. What they all got on their SATs.
At one point, Eric mentions he never heard from his older brother who works in New York City. He calls again but the line is busy. The students also use the Internet to contact the outside world, when the Internet works. Eric pulls out a cigarette and starts smoking, and soon some of the others are as well.
JZ the RA is going around to everyone's room to let them know classes are called off. And he warns them about drinking and smoking which are against the rules. When Dish makes a remark, JZ takes the beers. Dish has a secret 18-year-old scotch which he had intended to save for a special occasion, and they drink that. At one point, Dish and Lynz go in the closet together. Justin and Shelly and up alone when Eric also leaves, and they have a romantic moment.
Finally, the pizza arrives. Don let his family go home and he ended up delivering all the pizzas, and there were a lot of them, so it took a long time. Still, he stays and his a nice conversation. Don says he remembers another day like the one that just happened. He is old enough to remember Pearl Harbor, and he says he joined the military and landed on Normandy Beach but not on D-Day. The kids wish he could stay but he does have other pizzas to deliver.
The conversations continue and eventually Dish uses the empty beer cans they still have to create a sort of campfire. At one point Eric's brother calls and everything is fine.
Up to this point, everything that happened in the dorm room has apparently taken place in real time. But the students wake up and realize it is the next morning and they go outside to watch the sun rise.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content