A Smell of Jet Fuel
ShortStory 5,217 words Recommended by 2 award/anthology sources
"We met on the 107th floor of the South Tower. She was standing in quiet contemplation, watching fire spread through the building across the plaza, smoke and paper billowing out into that baby blue sky. I was nursing a thunderous hangover, neglecting my tour group, which had all gone to the southern side of the observation deck to watch the second plane’s approach. She wasn’t supposed to be here."
Content warnings 2
deathwar
Quasar links out; the story lives on Lightspeed, where the author gets the click.