As Taylor, Nicki, Beth and Zac stood in the Boston International Airport awating their planes back to LA....
"Now boarding American Airlines flight 11, Boston to Los Angeles...."
"United Airlines flight 175, Boston to Los Angeles boarding seats...."
"It sucks that you guys couldn't be on the same plane with us" said Taylor
"It's ok we're on the plane right behind you on United, we'll get into LA at the same time" said Zac
"At least you two are standing together, I'm in D.C. alone! I wish Val would have agreed to come back to LA with me" Taylor heard Isaac yell through the phone that Zac was talking on.
"She'll be there in a week Romeo..... sorry Ike we still love you though" Taylor yelled
"Yeah, I'll show him some love.....my foot up his butt...." said Isaac mumbling to himself
"Hey now Ike let's be nice here, you will be with us again before you know it" said Zac
"I still don't understand why Dad makes us travel separatly like this" Isaac complained
"So, if something was to ever happen to one of us or Dad there would still be two of us left in the band and Mom would have three of us to take care of her, you know that Ike" said Zac
"That shouldn't make a difference Hanson is three of us not just two....would you guys still keep makin' music without me?" Isaac questioned
"I don't think I could" said Zac
"Ask Taylor if he would keep makin' music without me?" said Isaac
"Tay, Ike wants to know if we'd keep making music without him" said Zac
"I would keep all your guitar parts silent in memory of you Ike" Taylor laughed
"I don't find that funny Jordan Taylor!" Isaac yelled quite perturbed
"Oppsee, I got Ike a little mad" Taylor whispered to Nicki his girlfriend of two years
"What is Isaac complaining about now?" Walker said to Taylor who was on his cell phone
"He doesn't like the fact that you have us travel on separate airplanes" said Taylor
"Tell him the next time you three go somewhere I will let you fly together, if it bothers him that much" said Walker
"Good news Ike, Dad said the next time we go away we can travel together" said Taylor yelling into Zac's phone
"That's good to know now! it really doesn't help me at this point in time ok?" said Isaac
"Last boarding call for American Airlines flight 11, Boston to Los Angeles...."
"Well that's us Nicki, I gotta go Dad they called last call for our flight, I'll see you in LA" said Taylor as he hung up the phone
"Last boarding call for United flight 175, Boston to LA...."
"Gotta go Ike, they called our flight see you in LA" said Zac as he hung up his cell phone
"Have a safe trip guys" said Taylor waving
"You too man" said Zac
"We'll be there before you know it" Taylor yelled
"I know....I miss my drums!" Zac yelled
"What? you miss your lungs?" Taylor yelled back
"Yeah Tay, you heard right I'm gonna use you for a drum" Zac yelled to Taylor while walking backwards towards his terminal
"Bye" Taylor yelled one last time before disappearing into the airport corridor
Nicki and Taylor found their seats on the plane, as did Beth and Zac on their plane.
"It was great to finally meet your parents" said Taylor
"I know they've been asking to meet you since we met, they wanted to see first hand the main who stole their daughters heart" said Nicki
"I'll never break that sweet heart either" said Taylor giving Nicki a kiss
"I know.....sometimes I think your too sweet for rock and roll" said Nicki
"Na, I can be a rock and roll rebel when I need to be" said Taylor with a laugh
"Yeah you can" said Nicki
"I can't wait to start recording the next record, we have enough material for a double album" said Taylor
"Maybe that's what you should make is a double album, it's not a bad idea" said Nicki
"I'll talk to Ike and Zac about it when we get to LA" said Taylor
A short time later all three planes carrying Isaac, Taylor, Nicki, Beth and Zac were in the air and on their way to LA
About five minutes into the flight a man wearing a turban and his partner stood up holding knives in the air, speaking in a heavy Palistian accent the taller of the men spoke, "Thees as I hejankiy"
"What did he say? did he just swear at us?" Taylor whispered to Nicki
"Does that knife in his hand tell you anything about him swearing at us? cause I don't think it does" said Nicki
"Excuse me Sir, could you speak english, some of us didn't quite understand what you just said" said Taylor standing up
The tall man walked over to Taylor and slashed his knife at him, just missing Taylor by fragments of an inch but cut his shirt instead.
"Uh nevermind I think we all understood you just fine" said Taylor quickly sitting down
"Taylor I'm scared, we're gonna die I just know it" said Nicki with a very scared tone in her voice
Taylor embraced Nicki into his arms, comforting her. Taylor noticed something is going on, he wants to do something about it but yet he doesn't want to leave Nicki alone and scared, if he left her alone she would be more scared then she already is so he continued holding her and telling her everythings going to be alright.
Meanwhile on Beth and Zac's plane virtually the same encounter had happened.
"Evrine ro thee brack uck thes plan" one of the Palestian men had yelled holding a knife out in front of him.
As ordered all of the passangers went to the back of the plane and huddled together on the floor, everyone praying and a few on cell phones to family members.
"I have my phone on me, I gotta call my Dad and let him know what's going on" Zac whispered to Beth as he held her as closely as he could to him.
"Zac get us out of this please....get us out alive" Beth cried
"I'm gonna try" said Zac as he dialed the phone number to the rented house in LA
Within a few seconds Walker answered the phone.
"Dad, it's Zac our plane has been hijacked"
"By who son....what do the men look like?" said Walker
"I don't know, they have towels on their heads" said Zac
"Towels?' said Walker confused
"Yeah, they have a weird pattern on their towels and they talk funny" said Zac
"Can you understand what they are saying?" said Walker
"Not really, they speak english but not very well, it's some really bad english if you ask me" said Zac
"Where are these men now?" asked Walker trying to get as much information out of Zac as he could
"Up in the front of the plane" said Zac
"Where are you now?" said Walker
"In the back of the plane, they ordered us back here" said Zac
"Is Beth with you?" said Walker
"Yes, I'm holding her" said Zac
"Ok, do you know what they want with the plane?" said Walker
"No, they haven't said much of anything to us" said Zac
"This is important son....when they did talk to you what did they say?" said Walker
"It sounded like Evi rine rot thee brack yuck theis plan or something like that" said Zac
"He was saying everyone to the back of this plane" said Walker
"Oh well I'm so glad that you understand him, cause I didn't, I just followed the rest of the people" said Zac
"Have you heard anything from Taylor?" Walker asked Zac
"No, I haven't talked to him since we boarded our planes in the airport, why?" said Zac
"I don't want to alarm you but your Mother is watching the morning news and a plane has just crashed into the World Trade Center" said Walker
"Oh my god, oh my god" Zac said as he began to panic
"Zac, you can't panic, you must stay strong for Beth she needs you the most right now" said Walker trying to keep Zac calm
"Your right, your right Dad.....I love you" said Zac starting to cry
"I love you too son.....your Mom wants to know what flight was Taylor on?" said Walker
"American Airlines" said Zac
"I know...I mean what was his flight number?" said Walker
"Eleven I think" said Zac
"Zac said he thinks it's flight eleven" said Walker to Diana who was sitting frozen in a chair, eyes locked on the tv
Zac heard his Mother scream Taylor's name really loud.
"Dad what's going on? is Mom ok?" Zac asked
"Son, the tv just said that they think it was flight eleven that crashed into the World Trade Center" said Walker
"NO....not my brother.... I never told him that I loved him or how much he meant to me...." said Zac breaking down in tears
"What...what's wrong with Taylor and Nicki?" said Beth holding onto Zac as tightly as she could
"Their plane has just crashed into the World Trade Center" said Zac
"Not Nicki....Nicki.....Taylor......Tay!" Beth cried while her face was buried in Zac's hair
"Zac...Isaac...Walk how are Zac and Isaac?" said Diana in a panic
"I'm on the phone now with Zac, I haven't heard anything from Isaac yet" said Walker
"How is Zac?" said Diana
"He's doing ok right now" said Walker
"What plane is he on?" said Diana
"Son, what plane are you on?" said Walker
"United flight....." Zac started to say then the phone went dead
"OH MY GOD!" Diana yelled and fell to the floor
Walker turned around to see what had happened to Diana as he saw the horrible image on the television, everything in Walkers mind had turned to a whirlwind of thoughts and images, it seemed as if his whole life was flashing before his eyes. He was momentarily reliving his high school drama days with Diana, his 1973 marriage to Diana, the births of Isaac, Taylor and Zac each in what seemed slow motion, then the births of the rest of his children. He heard two voices at the same time,
"It's a boy!"......"A second plane"......"Mr. Hanson"....."Has just crashed into"...."Would you like to cut the cord?".... ......"The second tower of the World Trade Center"
"NOT AGAIN......NO......NOT AGAIN....MY BABIES" Diana yelled between sobs
"Di, it's ok that might not have been Zac's plane" said Walker
"Is he still on the phone?....please tell me he is still on the phone" said Diana
"Hello? hello? we got disconnected...maybe one of the hijackers took his phone away from him...I hope" said Walker
"Call him...call Zac's phone...call Isaac...." said Diana
"I'll try Zac first" said Walker as he dialed Zac's cell phone number and that's all he heard was,
"We're sorry this cellular phone has been shut off, you will now be directed to voicemail"
"Nothing on Zac's phone it says it's been shut off" said Walker
"Call Isaac, find out about Isaac" said Diana in a frenzy
Before Walker had a chance to pick up the phone to dial Isaac's cell phone number the phone in his hand rang,
"Hello?" said Walker
"Dad, Dad....." said Isaac scared to death
"Isaac, I'm so glad it's you, I was just about to call you.... are you ok?" said Walker
"Yeah I'm in my seat but the plane's been taken over by terrorists" said Isaac
"Is that Isaac?" Diana grabbed the phone out of Walker's hand before he had the chance to answer.
"Isaac...Isaac honey is that you?"
"Yeah" said Isaac
"Are you ok?" said Diana
"Yes, I'm in my seat on the plane, but it's been hijacked" said Isaac
"God NO, not again.....why my family? why today of all days? god why have you taken my boys away from me at once?" Diana yelled dropping the phone to the floor
Walker picked up the phone. "Son I don't think that was a good choice of telling your Mother about your situation"
"Sorry Dad, I didn't know" said Isaac
"Did you hear anything about what has happened?" said Walker
Suddenly a Palestian man appeared from the front of the plane and said,
"Evrine ro thee brack uck thes plan"
"Hang on Dad they're telling us to go to the back of the plane, and No I didn't hear anything...why have you talked to Tay and Zac?" said Isaac as he made his way to the back of the plane
"Have you?" said Walker
"No....are they ok?" said Isaac
"Isaac, they were....." Walker started to say but was interupted by Isaac
"Val...what are you doing here?" said Isaac to a very shaken and scared Val who was wearing a straw hat and sunglasses
"I was going to LA to surprise you" said Val
"I wish you would have told me you were here sooner, like when this whole hell began" said Isaac
"But....I....wanted....to.....surprise....you" said Val crying and shaking
"Believe me you have, are you ok?" said Isaac holding Val with one arm as he was holding the phone with his other hand
"Yeah now that I'm with you" said Val
"Dad, Val's on the plane" said Isaac
"I heard, is she ok?" said Walker
"Yes, so what have you heard from Tay and Zac?" said Isaac
"Son, there is no easy way to tell you this but Taylor died" said Walker
"Died....how? when?" said Isaac
"What?.....who died?" said Val who still had a firm grip on Isaac's body
"Taylor's dead" said Isaac in tears
"His plane flew into the World Trade Center" said Walker
"And Zac? what about Zac? is he ok?" said Isaac
"I don't know about Zac he called me and told me his plane had been hijacked and right in the middle of telling me his flight number his phone went dead" said Walker
"Then how did you find out about Taylor?" said Isaac
"We heard it on the news" said Walker
"Tay's is flight 11, Zac's is flight 175 and mine is....." said Isaac then his phone's reception began to break up
"Ike....Ike....are you there? Ike is everything ok?" said Walker yelling into the phone
"Dad, yeah I'm here we just hit some turbulance" said Isaac
"Ok, Ike they just confirmed on the news that American Airlines flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center, we know that was Tay's plane and no word on the second plane that crashed into the second tower of the Trade Center, wait they are saying the flight number now....flight 75.....175" said Walker
"That was Zac's plane" said Isaac
"Your Mother just knew it was Zac's plane after she saw it hit the building, I reassured her that it wasn't Zac's plane and now her worse nightmare has come true it was Zac's plane" said Walker
That's all Diana heard was Walker say that it was Zac's plane and she had a nervous breakdown,
"I knew it, I just knew it, my babies....my babies....."
"Isaac what is your flight number?" said Walker
"Sevendy....sev....we're going down.....Dad.....we're going down" Isaac yelled into the phone as Val held onto Isaac and screamed then in as what seemed like an instant Isaac's sole connection to Walker was lost
"I just lost Isaac" said Walker
"Lost Isaac...how could you lose Isaac? I've already lost Taylor and Zac, and you've just lost Isaac" said Diana freaking out
"Honey we must get through this together, we must be strong for eachother and for our other children" said Walker comforting his wife
"I can't go on without my seven shining stars to guide me each day" said Diana
"They are still with us, they always will be in our soul of inner souls, each layer is a family member or close friend we have lost along the way" said Walker
"Gotta watch the news....gotta see what happened to Isaac" said Diana slowly making it back to the chair
"A third plane has just crashed into the Pentagon....we just got a report of a third hijacked plane, I repeat a third plane which has just crashed into the Pentagon" The tv announcer said which to Diana seemed to be ever so slowly
"That's Isaac's plane.....I just know it is" said Diana shaking her finger at the tv set
"They haven't annouced the flight number yet, so we aren't sure about that" said Walker trying to keep Diana calm
"It's a Mother's instinct to know when harm has surcome to her child, I was right about Zac's plane and I know that one is Isaac's plane" said Diana
"This word has just been recieved, a fourth hijacked plane has crashed in a Pennsyvania field, we believe the intended target was the White House" The tv announcer said
"Let me guess I know and have lost someone on that plane too? I've already lost three of my children what more do you want to take away from me?" said Diana yelling to the ceiling
Walker held Diana closely and did his best to comfort her through this terrible loss of family they had just expieranced.
About ten minutes later, the tv announcer cut in from repeated footage of the second plane hitting the second World Tower, Diana flinched and a single tear fell from each cheek as she thought of Zac and what his last moments and thoughts were with Beth by his side. She hoped none of her children felt any pain, she hoped they didn't feel anything and they didn't have to suffer.
"It has been confirmed that the first plane to hit the first World Tower was American Airlines flight 11, Boston to Los Angeles, the second plane a United Airlines 767 flight 175 from Boston to Los Angeles crashed into the second tower, the third plane from American Airlines flight 77, Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles that crashed into the Pentagon and the fourth plane from United Airlines flight 93 from Newark, New Jersey to San Fransisco which has gone down in a Pennsyvania field it's intended target the White House, all four planes are believed to be hijacked by 3 to 5 Palistinian men on each plane, all innocent passangers aboard these four planes senselessly lost their lives to a terrorist attack against the United States."
"There's a war coming, this whole ordeal has caused a war...we'll all be seeing the tears of an eagle and many more lives lost before we know what really happened to this great country of ours....the american eagle crying.... from the tears of an eagle we shall overcome this tragedy and learn from it" said Diana as she spoke softly
A week later Walker and Diana held a press confrence and a silent vigil at a rented hall in Los Angeles. A least a thousand or more people showed up, most of them fans to pay their respects to the Hanson family.
Walker got up and went over to the podeum to speak to everyone.
"As all of you have heard Diana and I have had a tremendous loss in our family, a week ago today our three oldest children were killed when the planes they were riding in crashed into each of the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, I always tried to take precautions when the boys traveled, I always had them take separate planes so if anything was to happen we wouldn't lose the three of them at the same time, but irrelevent to my precautions the inevitable has happened and in three separate tragedys we have lost Isaac, Taylor and Zac better known as Hanson. Right before the boys got on their planes I was on the phone with Taylor and Zac was on the phone with Isaac and Isaac usually doesn't complain about anything but on this day he as if it seemed had a prominition, he said he didn't like to travel separately from his brothers and questioned my intentions of having them travel separately as I did. I think he was on the track of he didn't want to die alone he wanted to die with his brothers by his side and I failed as a Father to grant that wish for the three of them, instead of letting them go to heaven together , I split them up. I wish everyday I could go back and change that, Diana and I hope that our children didn't see their horrible end or have to suffer in any way. The fourth plane that went down in Pennsyvania as we found out later on that a very close friend to the family, Ashley Greyson was on his way back to San Fransisco then he was going to make the two hour drive to meet us here in Los Angeles but sadly he never made it to meet his wife Mindy at the airport. We also found out that he had died trying to stop the hijackers from causing a fourth national tragedy against our country, he and a few other passangers tried to over power the hijackers once they learned of their intended target, he was a brave soul and I believe that his wife will be recieving something in honor of his bravery, he was a great person and will be sourly missed by all who knew him. But in the end of all that has happened a week ago today, Diana and I have lost three wonderful children, Jessica, Avery, Mackenzie and Zoe have all lost three older brothers and the world of music has lost three great musicians, may their music live on and bring joy to others as it already has for everyone here today"
"In honor of all those who have perished in this tragedy will everyone please stand and sing along with us" said Diana who was now standing at the podeum
*"If tomarrow all the things were gone
I'd worked for all my life
And I had to start again
With just my children and my wife
I'd thank my lucky stars
To be living here today
'Cause the flag still stands for freedom
And they can't take that away
I'm proud to be an American
Where at least I know I'm free
And I won't forget the men who died
Who gave that right to me
And I gladly stand up next to you
And defend her still today
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land
God Bless The USA
From the lakes of Minnesota
To the hills of Tennessee
Across the plains of Texas
From sea to shining sea
From Detroit down to Houston
And New York to LA
There's pride in every American heart
And it's time we stand and say :
I'm proud to be an American
Where at least I know I'm free
And I won't forget the men who died
Who gave that right to me
And I gladly stand up next to you
And defend her still today
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land
God Bless The USA"*
---In memory of Nicki---a fellow Hanson fan and true friend to the end---
*" God Bless The USA" - Lee Greenwood*
|
