Fire and Flowers

There was a fire in our neighborhood the other night.  It destroyed a century old building that at one time was a corner grocery store but in recent years was simply a somewhat dilapidated residence and band practice space.  No one was seriously hurt and the fire did not spread.

It happened around 11 at night the evening before Mother's Day.  Aden happened to be up late reading when she noticed all the sirens and flashing lights on her side of the house and came and got us.  She was in tears.

Mona and Quinn slept through everything, but there were dozens of emergency vehicles gathered around the building only two blocks away.  From Aden's second floor window we could see the flames leaping through the roof, and the smoke billowing into the sky flickering red and blue from the frantic lights below.  It was scary.