Where Was I? Sheliza Kabani

The day: December 27th, 2007. The time: 6:45 PM. The location: Karachi, Pakistan. There was nothing out of the ordinary on this crisp December day, or so I thought. I did not know that this ordinary day would soon become one of the most important days in the history of not only Pakistan, but also the rest of the world. My family and I were visiting my cousins in Pakistan for winter break. We didn’t usually go out to dinner on weekdays, but because my cousin had just won a special award, we all decided to go out that night. The restaurant was located about five minutes from my uncle’s house, so it was a fairly short drive. We left the house around 6:30, and ordered our food at 6:42. During the wait, I thought briefly about how the lights had been going out at my cousins' house for the last couple of days, and how the restaurant would be thrown into a state of panic were such a thing to happen here. However, I knew that the restaurant used an electric generator, and I quickly dismissed the thought. About a minute later, the lights started flickering, and I heard three sounds that resembled gun shots. I didn’t think much of it - my first thought was that it was a couple of kids playing with fireworks. Soon after, all the...