I reached the top of the ridge, breathing heavily from the effort.

The park at the edge of the city provides an excellent view of the city skyline.

It's a place I used to come too often when I needed to think things through.

And if there was ever a time when I needed to think things through, it's right now.

Peering around to ensure I'm alone in the park and haven't been followed up the path,

I head to a bench and throw myself down.

It's a beautiful day, I can't help but notice.

Funny on the mind works, I guess.

The sky is bright blue, only obscured by big cottony clouds.

The sun is shining and the birds are chirping.

As I sit catching my breath, the distant sound of automatic gunfire comes to my ears

after echoing up the man-made valleys between buildings.

It's joined by other sounds.

The smash of a car wreck. The screams of fleeing civilians, more gunfire.

A helicopter at the top of one of the skyscrapers lifts from the helipad, bodies dangling from the skids.

It banks hard, and a couple of the people hanging from it fall, tumbling down to splatter on the city streets

below. I watch as the airborne vehicle writes itself for a moment, seeming like it's going

to make it. But then something happens inside that I can't see. The helicopter tilts and corkscrews

directly down into the side of a building, exploding as it

smashes into the glass and stone exterior. The wrecked vehicle falls down and is soon lost

from my view as it disappears behind a smaller building. The sound of it hitting the street

comes to my ears a second or two after it actually happens. Describing how I feel as I sit

...