07/07/2005
I woke this morning, a little after 9am. Confused and disorientated, I lay staring at the ceiling while I tried to work out what time it was, what day it was. Once I established it was my day off and I had another hour in bed before I had to get up, I tried to go back to sleep – almost on cue, San called me. We were meant to be meeting up today, and she wanted to check what time I would be coming to see if she had time to go to the gym. We discussed our arrangements, and again I tried to go back to sleep. I heard my phone vibrate with a text message shortly afterwards, but I ignored it – thinking it was probably San trying to wake me up again.
After about half an hour of non-sleep I got out of bed and checked my phone; the message was from my Mum saying to check the trains because there had been an explosion in London. I didn’t think much of it – assumed there had been some kind of isolated accident. I logged onto the internet and checked train times and everything seemed normal. Then my Dad called me into the living room where he had the TV on.
It was then that I saw that it wasn’t an isolated accident, but rather a series of coordinated terrorist attacks on the transport system in London. The reports were still a little vague – it seemed undeniable it was terrorism, and the similarities to the attacks in Madrid were obvious.
Although San lives in Kings Cross, where one of the attacks had been, I felt sure that she was safe – since I had spoken to her after the attacks, without either of us knowing it, and that she wouldn’t have so much as left her flat. Then like so many other people today, I started trying to contact friends who would be in the city. I couldn’t reach San, the mobile networks were jammed and nobody was answering at her flat – but as I say, I already spoken to her already and more wanted to make sure her family were okay, and let her know that – perhaps obviously – I wouldn’t be seeing her today.
I have friends among the many people in this town who commute into London every day – their trains arriving in Liverpool Street station, before they take the tube to their various workplaces in the city. I have no idea how many people I know -- more acquaintances than they are friends -- might be caught up in it all.
I have little else to say, I have no intention on getting into the politics of the day.
