Jerilyn C. "4am Phone Calls and Helicopters"

I should have known something wasn't normal when the phone rang at 4 in the morning. I guess that I didn't was a testament to how tired I was. I handed the phone to Bonny, and walked down the hall to the restroom, wondering what was going on. When I came back, Bonnie was sitting on her bunk. Her words were horribly simple.
"Bonfire fell".
Of course Bonfire didn't fall. Her mom had to be wrong. So, we called the radio station, KORA. They would be able to clear this up. I knew that Bonfire was still up. So I asked them if Bonfire had fallen. And they said yes.
What do you do at a moment like that? What do you think, or feel? We turned the tv onto the bonfire channel. Blue and Red lights were all we saw against a dark screen. I think that's when it finally hit.
Bonny and I sat on the floor of our dorm room, held each other, and cried. The way the world was supposed to be was gone.
We got up and got dressed, and went outside.
"Wait, what if my parents find out, and I'm not here?" I asked.
So we went upstairs and called my dad. He was asleep.
"Dad Bonfire fell."
"What?"
"Bonfire fell, but I'm ok."
He was still a bit out of it, but I think it got through. Then we went out to stack site. The longest day of my life began.

I tried to go to class, but about halfway through german I left. So I went to stack site again. So many people were out there, sitting, standing, just being. We watched as log after log was slowly removed. The student's who had put up the stack, they were the ones taking it down, trying to save just one more person.
I saw two uniformed officers put a log on their shoulders. Later we found out the football team was out there as well. But there were many who waited, and the process was slow. Besides, I had never been to cut or stack, so I could not help.
I went to donate blood next. But the lines were hours long. So I just walked. Everywhere you went, you could see the pain. That look that spoke so much: I hurt, how can this have happened, what do we do now?, that look was in everyone's eyes.
Sometime in the afternoon, I went to the Rudder fountain plaza.It's about the size of a goodsize Applebees. But today, there were so many student's gathered there, you couldn't see the bricks. We had come to pray. I went with some friends from the ABS (Association of Baptist Students), and I started crying. Adam held me through the whole thing, even though his leg went to sleep. I wanted to hear the prayers, but the news copters swooped low, trying to get a good shot of this amazing scene. Ratings, you know? I didn't hear anything but the beat of the rotor.
The day was like a dream. That night, around seven, we went to Reed Arena for a memorial. The arena can hold 14000, but tonight, the aisles were filled as well. I'd say there were 16000 there. I don't remember much of the service. George H.W. Bush was there. And the families of the victoms who could make it. What I remember is after the families had left, one line of Corps guys put there arms around each other. And slowly at first then quickly, so did the rest of the auditoriam. Someone started singing amazing grace, and we all joined in. I cried. To this day, that song brings tears to my eyes.
My final memory of that day, lying in bed, praying that the helicopters would leave. I felt that if they would leave, some how it would be over. I didn't get to sleep until they were gone.