No Time for Stories – Alicia Crumpler

“NO!” Kate turned into Finn’s arms.

“We have to get out of the building.” Finn crawled out from under the table, pushing the couch away. “The lamp oil or the gas could start a fire.” He helped Kate out from under the table. “Grab yer coat and shoes.”

Kate rushed to the small closet near the front door, climbing over the coffee table and parts of the ceiling. She reached for their coats then shoved her feet into walking and grabbed her handbag off the end table by the door.

Finn pulled open the door to the stairs that led down to the pub, it was pitch black, but the stairs were still in place.

“Thank God they didn’t collapse,” he yelled. “I’ll go first.”

Finn gently stepped onto the first stair, and it held. “Be careful, but hurry.” He took Kate’s hand, and they quickly made their way down.

As they reached the bottom, Kate gasped. The sun had just begun to rise over the Oakland hills, and they saw the magnitude of the damage. The pub was destroyed. The wall-to-wall mirror behind the bar lay shattered on the floor. Broken bottles and glasses covered every surface, and the stench of alcohol filled the room. The ceiling had fallen in on the west side, and big chunks of the wall on the Mission Street side lay scattered on the sidewalk.

Kate stared at what had been their home and livelihood, where her husband’s family had lived and worked for decades. 

“Oh my God, Finn, there’s a fire behind the bar.” She pointed at the flames. “We’ll lose everything.”

“Hurry! If the gas line is broken, this whole block will go up.” Finn pulled her toward the street, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw the wooden sign that had hung over the door of the original Molly’s on Irish Hill. She jerked loose of Finn’s hand and ran back into the smoky building, pushing away chairs and a table to get to the 50-year-old, three-foot wooden sign. Grabbing it from the debris, she ran from the building as flames licked the ceiling behind the bar.

Finn grabbed the sign from her, “Damn it, woman, are you crazy?” he shouted as he took her hand and pulled her to him, “You could have been killed.”

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  1. Vanessa G says:

    How lovely to read this atmospheric story again! Congratulations Alicia.

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