A shaken city searches for a return to normal

PARIS— When Xiao Song got a call Monday morning asking why her youngest son wasn’t in class, something clicked for his older brother.

“Mom, are they calling to see if he was killed?” seven-year-old Matheo asked.

She’s still trying to figure out to what extent, but Song knows her son is aware that something bad, really bad, happened in Paris this weekend.

She said she was shocked by his reaction this morning and isn’t sure what to do about it. Her three-yearold, Zack, is too young to understand, but she knows Matheo isn’t.

Less than a year after January’s Charlie Hebdo attacks, she’s having a tough time explaining another close-to-home terrorist attack—this time one that killed at least 129 people.

“Doing it a second time doesn’t make it easier,” Song said, nervous about having to eventually address the question ‘Why?’

She’s worried Matheo will become scared to live normally or go to school. “It is going to be very hard to find the words,” she said.

Monday marked a citywide effort to return to normal life. Schools, nurseries, parks, sports facilities and many attractions, including the Eiffel Tower, officially reopened to the public.

Parisian-born Diabira Diadie was changing garbage bags around the city. He said it was stressful.

Pausing behind a dwindling crowd outside La Belle Équipe restaurant , Diadie pointed to a half-full bin in front him — “I mean, I don’t know if there’s a bomb in there,” he said.

The last time Thomas Thorburn was in his office, he spent the night there. His workplace, a startup called Weblib, is minutes from Le Carillon and the Bataclan, both attacked Friday.

Thorburn and a few of his colleagues heard the news while sharing a few drinks and winding down in the office after a long week of work.

After an uncharacteristic request from neighbours to turn their music down, a series of text messages began to explain the need for them to hear the sirens outside.

While following instructions to remain indoors, explosions and shooting rampages rocked several spots around the city.

“I never want to experience anything like that again,” he said, of the scene that unfolded as he was having a drink with a friend.