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"i didn’t tell anyone the next day or even the next week. It was such a powerful moment, so intimate and so personal. I wanted to be able to present it right.”   -MICHAEL HINGSON​ 

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On the morning of September 11, 2001, Michael, who has blind since birth, navigates his world with his best friend, a yellow Lab guide dog named Roselle. Mike and his wife, Karen, begins their day with a literal and figurative rare  storm.

Terrified by thunderstorms, Roselle jumped into their bed the night before. Covered in mud, Mike allowed her onto their pristine white comforter, leaving a pattern of muddy paw prints. Micheal defends the dog, which leads to a heated argument between been them. Frustrated and stubborn, his ride arrives, and he leaves for his office in the North Tower before the conversation is resolved.

Michael and Roselle enter the World Trade Center and get in the elevator, heading up to his office not realizing that his world is about to change drastically. 

Grabbing a cup of tea, Karen decides to leave an apology on Mike’s voicemail. She turns on Good Morning America. Panic and disbelief take over her as she watches plumes of gray smoke billow from the World Trade Center, where Michael works.

At 8:46 am, during a critical sales meeting with clients from out of the state, a massive explosion rocks the building. The structure groans and sways violently, glass shattering and raining from above. Michael quickly instructs his assistant, David, to guide Bill Gandy and his three employees to escape to Stairwell B, assuring them he will follow after he shuts down the main computers. David says to Mike, “I’ll come back for you.” As chaos ensues, Michael hurriedly calls Karen, saying, “I think a bomb has gone off. Roselle and I are…” The call abruptly cuts off before either can say “I love you” or “I’m sorry.”

Lisa Salada, who met Mike in the lobby, is a small-town girl at a new job. Unwittingly standing by the elevator, she reels backward as the elevator explodes, the doors burst open to reveal a man screaming, engulfed in flames. In shock, she slides down the opposite wall onto the floor. As David, Mike, and Roselle make their way to Stairwell B. Mike is suddenly jolted when Lisa grabs Roselle. She frantically shouts, “Roselle, Roselle.” Mike and David quickly help her up off the floor and persuade her to focus on getting to the stairwell with them.

Through the treacherous descent down from the 78th floor, they encounter scenes of panic and despair. Toxic fumes fill the air, and injured people pass them on their way down. Firefighters ascend to rescue those trapped above. Despite the chaos, Michael remains calm, using his quirky sense of humor to alleviate the tension and drawing on his past experiences to navigate the perilous situation.

Finally, after thirty floors of stairs, they rejoin the rest of the group. Bill Gandy, the boss of the sales group, has been forced by his boss to attend the meeting with Michael. Coming down the stairs he grumbled, “I’m not going to risk my life on a blind man's judgment.” Randall, a smart young Chinese American, has an array of quirks, and whistles when he is nervous. Candice Cartwright, a stylishly dressed, kind-hearted Black woman, has been hardened by her drive to succeed. In the explosion, she sustained a broken foot. Jason Calvert is a cheerful, kind-hearted individual with a crush on Candice, who remains at her side helping her down the stairs.

Finally, they make it out of the stairwell of hell only to be escorted by an FBI man down another set of stairs into the knee-high water-filled basement lobby. They cross to the other side, and up the other broken escalator to get out of the building. Bill stops at the bottom of the escalator as the others make their way up the escalator. He informs Mike he plans to stay at the North Tower and turns to go back and help the FBI man.

When David, Mike, and Roselle exit the North Tower, they are surrounded by the press, police, and first aid workers, Mike feels a surreal moment of freedom from danger when the police and everyone frantically start to yell, “Run! Run, the South Tower is falling! Run!” David, separated from Mike, and their group take off running for their lives. At this moment, Mike, Roselle, and the group are bombarded with the horrific sounds of a dying building, people screaming, death, pieces of the building falling, cars flying, and the pavement buckling with Mike barely able to stand.

His friends have left. He is alone with only Roselle, who seems unscathed. He cries out, "God, I can't believe you got us down 78 floors just to have it fall on us!” Mike picks up Roselle, “If I’m going to die, Rosie, it will be with you.”

Time and sound stop. In the silence, he hears the audible voice of God. “Michael, do not worry about the things you cannot control. Focus on running with Roselle and the rest will care for itself.” In an instant, time and sound start again. Trusting in God, he obeys and puts Roselle down and follows her lead, as they begin to run from the burning, crashing building.

The sounds and disastrous noises wash back over him as Roselle guides him away from the falling South Tower. After the group finds each other, a two-hundred-foot-tall dust cloud blinds and suffocates people in the area. Miraculously, Roselle guides Mike and the group as they hold on to each other, to safety below in a subway station.

In the quiet of the subway station employee room, while wiping their eyes, Candice asks, “Where’s Bill?” Mike says, “Bill stayed to help.” Candice breaks down. “Jason saved my life. Jason’s gone.” They wash their faces as they wait to be able to go home. They think they have found safety.

An intense police officer enters and warns them of potential bombs in the subway, forcing them back out into the dark, cloud-filled, chaotic streets. As they make their way toward their hotel, the group starts running and yelling, seeing the North Tower collapsing.

Mike yells for them to stop. The dust cloud is going the other way. They watch in utter disbelief as Mike’s work life disappears before his eyes. Mike rallies the group to keep going to get out of the area. He cannot get through as he tries to call Karen.

With F-16 jets roaring overhead toward the disaster site, and crowds chanting “USA, USA” Mike, Roselle, and their group finally arrive at the Times Square Hilton. Mike and David say goodbye and head to Grand Central Station.

At dinner, the group reminisced about Jason, Bill, and all the people that died. Bill, covered in dust, walks up to the table and the empty seat that was in honor of him. Randall blurts out, “We thought you were gone.” Bill smiling, says, “I did, too!” Then solemnly he responds, “The FBI guy I was with did not make it.”

After a moment of silence, Bill asks, “Do you mind if I pray?” With tears and nods, they agreed. “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. He makes me lie down…” His group joins in, their voices trembling with emotion. Soon, the entire restaurant echoes with solemn recitation, tears flowing and reciting the prayer of comfort together.

Across from Grand Central Station, Mike finally gets through to Karen with the words she has been praying to hear. “I love you, Karen. We are coming home! I will be on the late t…." The cell call drops again.

Karen waits for Mike outside their local train depot. When Mike hears her voice, they rush to her. Mike and Karen embrace as they cry tears of joy and sorrow. Then Roselle jumps up on her leaving paw prints on her white dress as she laughs and hugs her, “Rosie, I knew you would bring him home to me!” With a tired smile and another kiss, Mike says, “Let’s go home.” They move toward the van as the smoke-filled sunset sky fills the screen.