I’m standing in the Nova exhibit in downtown New York City, surrounded by Natalie, Danielle, and Millete. All three are survivors of the massacre at the nature party.

As I walk inside, I’m hit with a wave of emotion. The exhibit is incredibly immersive, and I feel like I’m right back there. It’s overwhelming.

I remember trying to escape the festival with a friend. We got caught by the terrorists on the main road, and they started shooting at everyone. I tried to escape by car, but we got stuck in a pickup truck with terrorists shooting at us. I was running for hours – there was no place to hide, just open fields. I had to hide under a bush and hold my breath, not moving or speaking. I felt so scared and alone.

I thought everyone was dead, and I didn’t want to die there. I didn’t want my family to find me, or to be kidnapped and raped. As the terrorists got closer, I could hear them talking and walking. I thought they would definitely find me and do something terrible. I started praying that a rocket would hit me, just so it would be over.

The cars were engulfed in flames. The terrorists knew some of us were hiding, and they wanted us to come out of the car so they could shoot us. Seeing this exhibit is really emotional for me – it’s hard to think about everyone who died, and about dancing with them for what might have been their last happy time.

I wish people could understand what happened to us because this isn’t just a political issue – it’s about real people who were killed. We came to celebrate love and life, and we ended up being targets. But we won’t let that darkness extinguish the light. We’ll keep spreading love and understanding, and we’ll keep dancing again.