My view of the world changed April 19, 1995.
“There’s smoke coming from downtown”, someone yelled.
A plume of black smoke billowed on the horizon. Rumors flew: a gas leak caused an explosion at the YMCA. Something explainable. Something I could wrap my mind around. We made stupid jokes, not knowing better. We hoped everyone was all right.
Moments later we learned a different truth.
The truck bomb that exploded in downtown Oklahoma City obliterated the entire front of the building, causing major damage for 16-blocks. 168 deaths, including 19 children.
I had no basis for imagining such horror.
Not exactly fiction, this is a snippet from a larger piece I wrote about the Oklahoma City Bombing. My husband and his best friend were fire fighters who worked the bombing. Neither were unscathed by the experience.
Friday Fictioneer’s is a weekly challenge to write a complete story in 100 words or less based on a photo prompt. Thanks to Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for hosting this challenge and J. Hardy Carroll for this week’s prompt.
Redbuds and Roserocks 
This was (and still is) a horrible event.
Yes it was James
A devastating tragedy. It is difficult to come to terms with something of that magnitude and my heart goes out to all who were affected by it.
Thanks J.E
Dear Susan,
There really aren’t any rules saying it has to be fiction. 😉 Well done. Unimaginable travesty. And the hits just keep on coming.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Thanks Rochelle
Thanks for sharing this – a powerful piece, more so because it is based on reality.
Thanks Iain.
That was a terrible tragedy. For me it seemed to be a precursor for the kind of troubled times we live in now.
A tragic tale sensitively told in your piece of faction.
Click to read my FriFic!
Thanks Keith
You remind us of an appalling act of terrorism. May God have mercy on those who died or were injured that day.
Thanks Penny. I couldn’t agree more
It was such a horrific day. I was living in Broken Arrow, OK at the time. I couldn’t imagine it. Sadly the world brought much worse.
It’s one of those days you will always remember where you were and what you were doing. Thanks for your comments, Susie
Such an awful event. And yet now I think we were all so innocent then. Well done.
Thank you
It was such a horrible event. Being in the FAA, I knew people in Federal buildings in OKC that wondered if they’d be next. Scary times.
It was a horrible day. Thanks for your comments
So many innocent lives lost to these horrible acts of violence.
A horrible event.
It read like well written fiction. Which made the succinctly told truths of the final paragraph even more powerful.
Thanks Avery. I appreciate your comments