10 days ago
Without any previous warning from any weather monitoring station, orange flickers began to be seen a mile away from the small town of Lexington, Virginia. Villagers started to panic, with community events being held at the local town hall on emergency event preparedness and guidance on how to deal with the aftermath of any harm done to homes. With the historical and fundamental moss-covered grand oak trees along the many streets of Lexington, people started to consider how they would be able to protect them from the imminent damage of the future. These grand oak trees weren’t just something that was significant to the community, as they contributed to the romantic identity of the town, but they also provided the wildlife that resided in that area with a habitat for survival and a more comfortable environment.
The fire that used to be miles away started to rapidly approach, with the blazing, dark orange embers coming into view from the home furthest away from the heart of the community. With a sense of fear building inside the villagers, people started to flee, with their cars cramming the area of the tiny highways that went through Lexington, to areas where they felt that they would feel safe. A furious roar from the fire started to rise, with the ever-present radiation of the fuming heat and the dry, smoky-filled air covering the previously clear skies. The fire, dubbed the Lexington Valley fire, scorched through the village without leaving anything behind, ashes falling like snow on what remained of the prior village. Nothing remained except for Luna’s family, who had miraculously survived. And maybe it was just the luck that they already had throughout their family history.
*****
Present
Luna had always loved the environment around her. From occasional trips to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, to backpacking in various national parks across the country, she had a passion for helping out with environmental-related projects around her community and the school that she went to. Ever since she was young, she’d planned to major in environmental science in hopes of being an environmental lawyer one day, but her dreams were crushed when the fire destroyed everything that she’d treasured in her hometown. As Luna stepped outside into the fire-damaged surroundings, the air in Lexington was filled with the smell of decaying flesh and the whispers of what could have been. Luna walked through the ravaged surroundings with tears streaming down her face, her boots moving through the ashes of buildings that had been burnt down to literally nothing. The air still reeked of chemical odors from the burnt furniture still populating the snow-like ashed streets.
At Luna’s hip lay a significant memory from her past, a flute carved from the tall, light green bamboo that grew around her home, which she hoped would help her bring parts of her world back to life. She hurried to find something that would help her people, as she realized that they were dying from the slowly withering planet that soon lacked the water and natural resources that they needed to survive. The ashes that overwhelmed daily living had vanquished every living creature that remained of the burnt surroundings. With time running out to save her family, the only thing that could possibly revive her surroundings was the core of the enchanted fungi that can only be found through the sound of a bamboo flute.
A low, melodic flute sound started to spread through the ground. The tiniest hint of sound traveling underneath the earth led to a small patch of moss-like greenery sprouting from the snow-like ashes still lying across the ground. Waves of light purple flowers started to blossom out of the white, ashen ground, and another ripple of saplings began to grow throughout the ground. As Luna saw the blooming nature of the ground, she realized, with a gasp, that the bamboo flute that she had could be used to bring life and excitement back to the ravaged planet. She started playing a tune that she’d learned from her parents during her childhood, and as the last note of the melody started to flicker out, a dramatic silence started to fall upon her surroundings. With the emergence of the enchanted fungi, the mossy greenery started to spread like a mosaic across Luna’s surroundings. It thickened, with the gradual blooming of more flowers and saplings, with a forceful experience of healing. From the inner heart of the fungi, a pure, mystical drop of water rose and fell, hitting the ground with the force of a tiny bell. It wasn’t a large rainstorm or something that would produce greenery immediately, but it was the beginning of something. A promise. The world wasn’t just accepting the revival of the plants, or rejecting the foreseeable future of humans gaining some magical ability to survive, but allowing Luna to chart out a brand new path for humanity and the earth to remember once again how to sing with life and excitement.
Without any previous warning from any weather monitoring station, orange flickers began to be seen a mile away from the small town of Lexington, Virginia. Villagers started to panic, with community events being held at the local town hall on emergency event preparedness and guidance on how to deal with the aftermath of any harm done to homes. With the historical and fundamental moss-covered grand oak trees along the many streets of Lexington, people started to consider how they would be able to protect them from the imminent damage of the future. These grand oak trees weren’t just something that was significant to the community, as they contributed to the romantic identity of the town, but they also provided the wildlife that resided in that area with a habitat for survival and a more comfortable environment.
The fire that used to be miles away started to rapidly approach, with the blazing, dark orange embers coming into view from the home furthest away from the heart of the community. With a sense of fear building inside the villagers, people started to flee, with their cars cramming the area of the tiny highways that went through Lexington, to areas where they felt that they would feel safe. A furious roar from the fire started to rise, with the ever-present radiation of the fuming heat and the dry, smoky-filled air covering the previously clear skies. The fire, dubbed the Lexington Valley fire, scorched through the village without leaving anything behind, ashes falling like snow on what remained of the prior village. Nothing remained except for Luna’s family, who had miraculously survived. And maybe it was just the luck that they already had throughout their family history.
*****
Present
Luna had always loved the environment around her. From occasional trips to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, to backpacking in various national parks across the country, she had a passion for helping out with environmental-related projects around her community and the school that she went to. Ever since she was young, she’d planned to major in environmental science in hopes of being an environmental lawyer one day, but her dreams were crushed when the fire destroyed everything that she’d treasured in her hometown. As Luna stepped outside into the fire-damaged surroundings, the air in Lexington was filled with the smell of decaying flesh and the whispers of what could have been. Luna walked through the ravaged surroundings with tears streaming down her face, her boots moving through the ashes of buildings that had been burnt down to literally nothing. The air still reeked of chemical odors from the burnt furniture still populating the snow-like ashed streets.
At Luna’s hip lay a significant memory from her past, a flute carved from the tall, light green bamboo that grew around her home, which she hoped would help her bring parts of her world back to life. She hurried to find something that would help her people, as she realized that they were dying from the slowly withering planet that soon lacked the water and natural resources that they needed to survive. The ashes that overwhelmed daily living had vanquished every living creature that remained of the burnt surroundings. With time running out to save her family, the only thing that could possibly revive her surroundings was the core of the enchanted fungi that can only be found through the sound of a bamboo flute.
A low, melodic flute sound started to spread through the ground. The tiniest hint of sound traveling underneath the earth led to a small patch of moss-like greenery sprouting from the snow-like ashes still lying across the ground. Waves of light purple flowers started to blossom out of the white, ashen ground, and another ripple of saplings began to grow throughout the ground. As Luna saw the blooming nature of the ground, she realized, with a gasp, that the bamboo flute that she had could be used to bring life and excitement back to the ravaged planet. She started playing a tune that she’d learned from her parents during her childhood, and as the last note of the melody started to flicker out, a dramatic silence started to fall upon her surroundings. With the emergence of the enchanted fungi, the mossy greenery started to spread like a mosaic across Luna’s surroundings. It thickened, with the gradual blooming of more flowers and saplings, with a forceful experience of healing. From the inner heart of the fungi, a pure, mystical drop of water rose and fell, hitting the ground with the force of a tiny bell. It wasn’t a large rainstorm or something that would produce greenery immediately, but it was the beginning of something. A promise. The world wasn’t just accepting the revival of the plants, or rejecting the foreseeable future of humans gaining some magical ability to survive, but allowing Luna to chart out a brand new path for humanity and the earth to remember once again how to sing with life and excitement.