So... so the Claremont Council Chambers and connected library have been gutted by fire. Like - inferno fucking fire. It started about three hours ago and they're still putting out the flames.
I kinda half grew up there. I forget how many times I had to wait in the car park with Dad for Mum, or had to go to that library to study for school projects. I STILL used to go there to research for my novel. I was forever taking out the lovely books they had about the ocean. The only book I don't feel bad about going up in flames is the Scientology ones they had there.
But there was so much history in that building. The old court room - oh it was so beautiful. Rich deep redwoods, furniture that was over a hundred years old. Claremont was one of the first settlements here in WA, a stop-off point between Perth and Fremantle. That old building was very art deco at the front. It was so lovely. And all the records, all the old photos, the history.
So many memories in that place. My Mum and my aunts and uncles all got naturalised there in the one ceremony. I can remember the smell of the carpets and the wood. The feeling like the building was never really empty, like the walls could tell you stories. It's been here for so long - why must it be destroyed now? It seems so wrong to me.
Thankfully, nobody was hurt. I keep holding onto that one thing, thanking God over and over. Nobody was hurt.
I think I'm in a bit of shock, actually. My brain is taking all of its meat to process this. It's just horrible. :(
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