Paris
It was a bright sunny day in Paris, the streets were buzzing with energy as I sat outside the Café de Flore. I was an American on holiday in Paris for a few days, I was due to return in 3 days' time. All that changed after what happened. I looked around the café, the glass windows polished to a mirror sheen with beautifully decorated lettering centered on the window. Marble tables were scattered inside and outside the café. Waiters were dashing about as it was around 1pm, which meant the café was very busy. The smell of fresh pastry's wafted into my nose. A hint of cinnamon was in the air. The noise of the conversations seemed muffled, as I could not differentiate between words. I barely spoke any French at all.
 A waitress approached me, she was in her early 20's. Her face was kind and she had blue eyes. Her brown hair shun in the sun as she smiled and began speaking French. I stumbled my words as I tried to tell her in French I didn’t understand. "My apologies! I speak English!" She giggled at my broken attempt. "What is it you would like to order?", "A latte please, and a croissant" I smiled back as she took down my order and shifted away. The street was crowded with people going about their daily lives, shopping and other ordinary things. I enjoyed getting away from my job from America, I enjoyed the ordinary unlike others. When others saw boredom I often saw tranquility.
Minutes later the waitress returned with my latte and croissant with a side of jam and cream. "Latte and croissant sir." "Thank you very much" I smiled once again and she smiled back and left me to my lunch. The croissant was fresh out of the bakery, still soft and warm. I noticed my latte had a small leaf design made on the foam as I took a sip. I leant back in my chair and began to sink into my own world, allowing the sounds of the environment to create my dream.
I was jolted back to reality when I heard screaming nearby, everyone else was startled but they were speaking French so I couldn’t understand what they were saying. I stood up, curious as to what was going on but as I came to my feet I was immediately blasted back by an explosion. As I slowly opened my eyes my vision faded I tried to look around to see the kind waitress lying next to me, her eyes were shut and her body lifeless as I began to lose consciousness.
5 minutes later as I came to my senses I slowly came to a seated position. I groggily gazed ahead of me as an ambulance screamed past in the street outside, like a cry of terror. The blaring sirens made my senses alert and my vision began to come back. I quickly looked for the waitress. I saw her and slowly crept up to her. The ringing in my ears began to fade as I called out to the girl. There was no answer. I took her pulse but there was none.
More ambulances arrived at the scene and EMT's poured into the remnants of the café which was now a smoking rubble. The window with the lettering was smashed and the tables and chairs were broken and toppled over across the café. One of the men that was inside the ambulance jumped out and came up to me. He started speaking French, I tried to tell him that I couldn’t understand but as I opened my mouth there was nothing but silence. He put his arm around me and guided me towards the ambulance. I looked over my shoulder and took one last look at the kind waitress lying on the floor as an EMT shook his head indicating she was dead.