An Incendiary Grievance by Pat Wright, hot toddy

The shattering glass, as it splinters the frosty stillness, interrupts the creaking slumber of the venerable old hall. A smouldering missile, symbol of so much pent-up anger lies inert. Fortified by the artwork, hastily abandoned when the claxon sounded, the flames find their bearing.

Licking and slithering the fire comes sneaking across the polished floor. In a flash it catches on to a stack of chairs and is on its way up the faded velvet, quickly obliterating the achievements of bygone scholars that line the walls. With simultaneous surges the blaze lays siege to the stage and finds an easy victim in the scenery. A terrifyingly different truth to the illusion it was designed to create. 

The crackling flames give way to a roar as they race around the wings and arch over the stage. The successes and failures, the ambitions and apathies are ingrained in these timbered walls. The friendships and the rivalries are rooted here too. 

Amid the falling rafters the two grand pianos come to life as the wires snap in the intense heat: summoning the music of all who have played under this roof. The infernal concerto reaches its climax as the balcony gives way and plunges to earth.

There is no way back! The roof can hold on no longer and the explosion that brings it crashing down alerts the neighbours to the devastation that is in progress.  

Like a phoenix another building will rise in these ashes and this night of wanton destruction will have done nothing to resolve this incendiary grievance.

About the author

Pat’s creative talents mainly focus on Art. However, In common with the themes she chooses for her paintings, her adventures into Flash Fiction aim to create narratives which are abstracts of ideas that have irregular angles or perspectives.

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