Michael Lopez

Remember 7.2.11 Michael Lopez

Save me! I'm here! Those are the words that echoed throughout the mall, said by a man that was buried under a heap of debris. The scene I witnessed was result of a horrible explosion at a mall in Southern California. It was a day I'll never forget. Explosion after explosion was ripping through the mall with a force that could be heard by anyone within a half-mile radius of it. Thousands and thousands of people were running for their lives not knowing whether they were running away from death or toward it. It was a murderous maze of evil that hundreds and hundreds of innocent men, women and children had to incur. I watched as the throngs of innocent men, women, and children were running for their lives amidst all of the death and desruction around them. Every one of these innocent human beings caught in this web of death could only pray that the path they choose to take would be the right one. But I as stood there most of them guessed wrong, thus succumbing to the plan of a ruthless killing machine that had planted explosives both inside and outside the mall. I stood there witnessing it as if I were a spectator to it all, forgetting that my life was also in danger. I was virtually numbed by what had so quickly become a surrealistic nightmare. The intensity of the moment was so powerful I couldn't move. I could only watch and listen to the calls of mothers and fathers for their children that were never answered. The explosions created a noise level that I've never heard in my entire life. I felt as if I were watching people experiencing various degrees of nightmares. I'll sorrowfully admit to you that to this day, I still can't explain or describe the sounds that I heard on that dreadful July afternoon. Only a very few would manage to survive the shadow of death that was all around them on that day, this is the story of one of those that did.